State v. Shook

• Decision Date: 30 December 2002
• Docket Number: No. 99-608.,99-608.
• Citation: 313 Mont. 347,67 P.3d 863,2002 MT 347
• Parties: STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Sandra White SHOOK, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

67 P.3d 863

2002 MT 347

313 Mont. 347

STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Sandra White SHOOK, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 99-608.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted on Briefs October 4, 2001.

Decided December 30, 2002.

Order Amending Opinion on Denial of Rehearing February 11, 2003.

For Appellant: Tom D. Tobin; Tobin Law Office, Winner, South Dakota.

For Respondent: Hon. Mike McGrath, Attorney General; Sarah A. Bond, Assistant Attorney General, Helena, Montana, Robert Zimmerman, Sanders County Attorney, Thompson Falls, Montana.

For Amicus Curiae: John B. Carter, Daniel F. Decker, Tribal Legal Department, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Pablo, Montana (for Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes), Maylinn Smith, Indian Law Clinic, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana (for Montana-Wyoming Tribal Judges Association).

Justice JAMES C. NELSON delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶ 1 Appellant Sandra White Shook (Shook) appeals an order of the Twentieth Judicial District Court, Sanders County, denying her motion to dismiss the charge against her and upholding the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission (Commission) regulation prohibiting non-tribal members from hunting big game on all Indian reservations in Montana. We affirm.

¶ 2 We address the following issues on appeal:

¶ 3 1. Did the District Court properly conclude that the state's big game hunting closure to non-tribal members on Indian reservations does not violate constitutional guarantees of equal protection?

¶ 4 2. Did the District Court properly conclude that the state's big game hunting closure to non-tribal members on Indian reservations is not an unlawful exercise of the powers of the Commission?

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶ 5 On or about November 16, 1997, Shook shot and killed a whitetail buck on private property within the exterior boundaries of the Flathead Indian Reservation. Under Commission hunting regulations, big game hunting privileges on Indian Reservations are limited to tribal members only, thereby closing the hunting season to non-tribal members. Shook is not a tribal member. Further, Shook did not own the private property where she hunted, nor was the property owned by a tribal member. Shook was charged with hunting within a closed area in violation of § 87-1-304, MCA, with the penalty provided in § 87-1-102, MCA.

¶ 6 Shook pleaded guilty in justice court. However, pursuant to § 46-12-204(3), MCA, she reserved her right to a review of the adverse determination of her initial motion to dismiss. Shook then appealed to the District Court, asserting in her renewed motion to dismiss that the closure to non-tribal members was invalid for several reasons. The parties then stipulated to facts sufficient to establish the offense charged.

¶ 7 Based on the stipulated facts, the District Court addressed Shook's motion to dismiss and concluded that the regulation limiting big game hunting on reservations to tribal members did not violate the Montana Constitution and was a valid exercise of the powers of the Commission. Shook subsequently pleaded guilty, admitting in open court to killing a whitetail deer on private property within the Flathead Reservation that she did not own, and admitting to knowing that the area was closed under Commission regulations. Shook was sentenced and appealed the District Court's ruling.

¶ 8 After Shook filed her notice of appeal, Shook and the State stipulated to a motion to vacate the appeal in this Court in order to allow for possible resentencing by the District Court. However, the District Court declined to resentence in an order dated March 12, 2001. As a result, Shook then proceeded with this appeal. We allowed the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (the Tribes) and the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Judges Association to submit amici briefs.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 9 In this case, the District Court's order denying Shook's motion to dismiss is based entirely on conclusions of law regarding the legality of the state's big game hunting prohibition for non-tribal members on land within the exterior boundaries of Indian reservations in the state. Accordingly, we review the District Court's conclusions of law to determine whether those conclusions are correct. Zempel v. Uninsured Employers' Fund (1997), 282 Mont. 424, 428, 938 P.2d 658, 661. Further, we will affirm the District Court's ruling if the court reached the correct result for the wrong reason. State v. Parker, 1998 MT 6, ¶ 20, 287 Mont. 151, ¶ 20, 953 P.2d 692, ¶ 20.

III. DISCUSSION

¶ 10 1. Did the District Court properly conclude that the state's big game hunting closure to non-tribal members on Indian reservations does not violate constitutional guarantees of equal protection?

¶ 11 The 1997 Commission regulation at issue here reads: "Big game hunting privileges on Indian Reservations are limited to tribal members only." While a copy of the regulation at issue was not entered into the trial court record by either party, the parties stipulated to this language in the District Court proceedings.¹ This regulation was promulgated pursuant to § 87-1-304(1)(a)(i), MCA, which reads: "The commission may... fix seasons, bag limits, possession limits, and season limits." As mentioned, Shook was prosecuted for hunting during a closed season in violation of § 87-1-304, MCA. ¶ 12 Shook first asserts that the state's big game hunting closure to non-tribal members on reservations is an unconstitutional violation of equal protection because it distinguishes between tribal members and non-tribal members on the basis of race. The State and the Tribes counter that laws that distinguish between persons based on tribal membership have long been held constitutional under equal protection requirements because the distinction is political rather than racial. The District Court agreed with the State and held that tribal membership was a valid political classification.

¶ 13 We agree with the State, with the Tribes, and with the District Court. The United States Supreme Court has already explicitly considered whether laws that distinguish based on tribal membership violate equal protection in Morton v. Mancari (1974), 417 U.S. 535, 94 S.Ct. 2474, 41 L.Ed.2d 290. In that case, the Court addressed Bureau of Indian Affairs employment preferences for Indians and held that the preferences were not unconstitutional classifications. The Court stated:

Literally every piece of legislation dealing with Indian tribes and reservations ... single out for special treatment a constituency of tribal Indians living on or near reservations. If these laws, derived from historical relationships and explicitly designed to help only Indians, were deemed invidious racial discrimination, an entire Title of the United States Code (25 U.S.C.) would be effectively erased and the solemn commitment of the Government toward the Indians would be jeopardized.

....

... The preference is not directed towards a "racial" group consisting of "Indians"; instead, it applies only to members of "federally recognized" tribes. This operates to exclude many individuals who are racially to be classified as "Indians." In this sense, the preference is political rather than racial in nature.

Morton, 417 U.S. at 552-54, 94 S.Ct. at 2483-85. The Court went on to hold that laws that afford Indians special treatment are constitutional as long as those laws can be tied rationally to the fulfillment of the unique federal obligation toward Indians. Morton, 417 U.S. at 555, 94 S.Ct. at 2485. See also United States v. Antelope (1977), 430 U.S. 641, 647, 97 S.Ct. 1395, 1399, 51 L.Ed.2d 701 (federal criminal code applicable in Indian country does not violate equal protection).

¶ 14 The State of Montana is required to follow this federal precedent by the express terms of both our own Constitution and the federal enabling act establishing Montana as a state. Specifically, following the Preamble to the Montana Constitution, Article I, the Compact With the United States, requires that the State abide by "the agreement and declaration that all lands owned or held by any Indian or Indian tribes shall remain under the absolute jurisdiction and control of the congress of the United States." See also Act of Feb. 22, 1889, 25 Stat. 676. Based on this requirement, we have previously held that Indian treaties are "regarded as a part of the law of the state as much as the state's own laws and Constitution[,] [are] effective and binding on [the] state legislature[ ] ... [and are] superior to the reserved powers of the state, including the police power." State v. McClure (1954), 127 Mont. 534, 539-40, 268 P.2d 629, 631. See also State v. Stasso (1977), 172 Mont. 242, 246, 563 P.2d 562, 564 (treaty provisions "must be considered as a reservation by the Indians, rather than a grant by the federal government").

¶ 15 Consequently, federal Indian law regarding the rights of Indians is binding on the state. Therefore, the state equal protection guarantee under Article II, Section 4, must allow for state classifications based on tribal membership if those classifications can rationally be tied to the fulfillment of the unique federal, and consequent state, obligation toward Indians. Cf. Zempel, 282 Mont. at 430-33, 938 P.2d at 662-64 (failure of state workers' compensation fund to cover workers under tribal jurisdiction does not violate equal protection). Indeed, our own Constitution makes a distinction regarding Indians in Article X, Section 1(2) ("The state recognizes the distinct and unique cultural heritage of the American Indians and is committed in its educational goals to the preservation of their cultural integrity."). ¶ 16 Therefore, we need only address whether the state regulation that prohibits non-tribal members from hunting big game on Indian reservations is rationally tied to the fulfillment of the unique obligation toward Indians. We hold that it is. There are seven Indian...