Our Christmas driving took us across the Pine Ridge Reservation, where we had the chance to listen to KILI Radio, possibly the most interesting and most local radio station in South Dakota.
On Friday morning, a lively and occasionally hilarious Q&A with public safety officials about drinking, tasers, and icy roads (like the one I was on, Highway 40! For Pete's sake, drop that blade, fellas!) gave way to a remarkable conversation with a tribal official (I can't be sure, but I think it was Robin Tapio) about the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council's effort to oust new chief judge Paula Langworthy.
The OST Council appointed Langworthy to the chief judge position just this past October. The woman on Friday's radio program said Langworthy was hired in part due to her impressive resume. Weighing heavily in Langworthy's favor was the fact that she holds a law degree (at which point my wife and I said to each other and the radio, "Don't you have to have a law degree to be a judge?").
At her interview, Langworthy impressed council members with her stated commitment to following protocol and establishing some order in the tribal court. Once she donned the robe, she made clear she would no longer tolerate the long-standing practice of council members and other officials strolling into the courthouse to chat with the judge about how to run the court and dispose of cases. The official on the radio said she simply texted Judge Langworthy outside of court one day to ask about procedure on a case and received a swift and stern reply that such communications could constitute grounds for contempt of court. The official said she accepted the judge's point and held no malice against her.
Unfortunately, other council members are not so accepting of the new tight judicial ship. Judge Langworthy sent a letter suggesting that other tribal officials could be held in contempt for improper communications with her office and asked how she should proceed. The council's answer: proceed right out the door. If I understood the radio presentation correctly, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council meets this week to consider a committee recommendation that Judge Langworthy be relieved of her post. The official on the radio expressed clear dismay with this prospect. She defended Judge Langworthy's effort to rectify decades of sloppy practice and conduct court according to Hoyle. She said she had heard good things from folks in the local AA program who'd been sent for treatment by Judge Langworthy.
Langworthy is the third person to hold the OST chief judge post this year, following the ousting of chief judge Marwin Smith last spring and the interim service of former chief judge Patrick Lee until this fall. Let's hope the tribal council can recognize the value of both stability and independence in the judicial branch.
Is there anything in SD law that says a judge has to have a law degree? Heck you don't have to have a college degree to serve in Congress
Reservations run on connections and relatives rather than competence, lsaw and regulations. There are reasons their system is called tribal.
Nothing changes very much at OST. The council will only defend the tribes laws as long as those laws don’t have something to do with the members of the council or their families.
If a judge isn't strict enough with other people, that will have an effect. And if that judge is to strict with certain people that to will get him or her booted from the bench.
The people on the OST council might change every few years but legal issues facing the tribe and how those issues are handles remain exactly the same as they have been for decades. At least their consistent.
Cory you can get KILI on the net.
The Blindman
The OST Constitution requires the Chief Judge or the Inferior Court to have a JD and member in good standing with Bar Association in any state. All Supreme Justices are required to have a JD.
Associate judges needs to be honest, have good character and of a certain age to qualify for the Misdemeanor Bench. Tribal courts do not have felony jurisdiction.
More later - these recent events are not good in the least.