Indian Civil Rights Act
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| Long title | An Act to prescribe penalties for certain acts of violence or intimidation, and for other purposes. |
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| Acronyms (colloquial) | ICRA |
| Enacted by | the 90th United States Congress |
| Effective | April 11, 1968 |
| Citations | |
| Public law | 90-284 |
| Statutes at Large | 82 Stat. 73 aka 82 Stat. 77 |
| Codification | |
| Titles amended | 25 U.S.C.: Indians |
| U.S.C. sections created |
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| Legislative history | |
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Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 applies to the Indian tribes of the United States and makes many, but not all, of the guarantees of the Bill of Rights applicable within the tribes. The Act appears today in Title 25, sections 1301 to 1303 of the United States Code.
The H.R. 2516 legislation was passed by the 90th U.S. Congressional session and endorsed by the 36th President of the United States Lyndon Johnson on April 11, 1968.
The US Supreme Court had made clear that tribal internal affairs concerning tribal members' individual rights were not covered by the Fifth Amendment to the US constitution. However, the tribes were ultimately subjected to the power of Congress and the Constitution. The court case Talton v. Mayes helped establish the principles. There were other court cases over the following years to continue the thoughts "that tribes were not arms of the federal government when punishing tribal members for criminal acts and that Indian tribes were exempt from many of the constitutional protections governing the actions of state and federal governments."
Later, in the 1960s, Congress held a series of hearings on the subject of the authority of tribal governments. These hearings told about the abuses that many tribal members had endured from the "sometimes corrupt, incompetent, or tyrannical tribal officials." In response, the Indian Civil Rights Act was enacted.
No Indian tribe in exercising powers of self-government shall – 1. make or enforce any law prohibiting the free exercise of religion, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition for a redress of grievances; 2. violate the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable search and seizures, nor issue warrants, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the person or thing to be seized; 3. subject any person for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy 4. compel any person in any criminal case to be a witness against himself; 5. take any private property for a public use without just compensation; 6. deny to any person in a criminal proceeding the right to a speedy and public trial, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witness against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and at his own expense to have the assistance of a counsel for his defense; 7. require excessive bail, impose excessive fines, inflict cruel and unusual punishments, and in no event impose for conviction of any one offense any penalty or punishment greater than imprisonment for a term of one year and a fine of $5,000, or both 8. deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of its laws or deprive any person of liberty or property without due process of law 9. pass any bill of attainder or ex post facto law; or 10. deny to any person accused of an offense punishable by imprisonment the right, upon request, to a trial by jury of not less than six persons.
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