By Felicia Fonseca
Flagstaff, Arizona (AP) March 2010
Navajo lawmakers voted during late February to override the veto of a bill that prohibits tribal judges from using a set of laws based on centuries-old traditional values and customs in court cases.
The Tribal Council voted 69-11 in favor of the override during a special session in Window Rock.
Judges often have interwoven what’s known as Dine Fundamental Law with
other statutes that are not always consistent with Navajo cultures.
Now, any dispute regarding the validity, application or interpretation
of fundamental law will not be heard in Navajo courts but be resolved
consensually through peacemaking.
“Judges and justices themselves do not know what fundamental law is all
about,” said Delegate Lorenzo Curley, an inactive member of the Navajo
Bar Association. “In this vague system that we have, how can we expect
justice or fair play? There’s been no certainty at all.”
The largely undefined laws have guided the upbringing of many Navajos
and served as the basis of their way of life, which promotes balance
and harmony. They were codified in 2002 over concerns that the
knowledge of them are fading among the youth.
Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. had vetoed the change to the laws that
he said would reverse progress made in Navajo law and weaken the tribal
government. He also contended the measure was politically motivated.
“By attempting to amend and, in essence, repeal its applicability, the
council is undermining all we hold dear and that which identifies us
specifically as Navajo, distinct from other tribes or other
governmental entities,” Shirley wrote in his veto.
Delegate Raymond Joe originally sponsored a bill to repeal the
fundamental law from the tribal code, weeks after a tribal judge cited
the law in allowing voters to decide whether to reduce the Tribal
Council and give the president line-item veto authority. Shirley led
the ballot initiatives that voters overwhelmingly favored in December.
Joe later introduced a measure to clarify how fundamental law should be used.
Henry Barber, a member of the Dine Medicine Man Association, said any
change made to fundamental law should have been discussed with tribal
elders, medicine men and the general public.
“To me, all of that is being avoided, that’s why we disagree,” said the 67-year-old from Sanostee, N.M.
The Tribal Council also voted to override Shirley’s veto of a measure
that gives more power to the legislative counsel, the top lawyer for
the tribe’s legislative branch.
The measure allows for the legislative counsel to issue legal opinions,
contract with outside attorneys, hire special prosecutors and enforce
election codes – powers that historically have been reserved solely for
the tribe’s attorney general.
Shirley had contended the measure also was politically motivated and
would present a conflict of interest. Legislative Counsel Frank Seanez
has said the measure will strengthen the Navajo Nation and its ability
to address legal challenges.
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