Council Dispatch #196     September 21, 2023

Election Appeals Hearing

• Ethan Friedlander met with the council to appeal the Election Board’s decision to deny his candidacy for Tribal Council. On September 14, 2023, the Election Board deemed Mr. Friedlander ineligible to be a Tribal Council candidate and sent him a letter with their decision and reaffirmed his right to appeal. He was required to (1) make the appeal in writing and signed by the person making the appeal, which he did; (2) include the name and residence of the person bringing the appeal along with a statement of standing, which he has done; and (3) provide detailed and specific details of the issue and bring forth witnesses involved of the facts or alleged to have brought the action or are helpful to make a decision on the appeal. Len TwoTeeth asked if Ethan had a list of witnesses speaking on his behalf today. Ethan advised he had no witnesses. Len stated this is Ethan’s appeal and this is not a forum for public comment. Ehtan requested the meeting take place in open session. The floor was turned over to Ethan to make his presentation. Ethan Friedlander played an 8-minute video of Merrick Garland, US Attorney General, speaking about a pattern and practice of unlawful policing and announcing that the Justice Department, the city of Minneapolis, and the MPD consented to an investigation. The review focused on MPD as a whole and not the actions of an individual officer and the actions that made the incident with George Floyd on May 25, 2020 possible. The DOJ said MPD and the city of Minneapolis engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the first and fourth amendments of the US Constitution and engaged in conduct that violates Title IV of the Civil Rights Act, Safe Streets Act, and the American Disabilities Act. Mr. Garland is the Attorney General and we are a nationally recognized Tribe, and we should take our cues from him instead of locally. Montana takes its sentencing guidelines from surrounding states. Excessive force is being applied to Native Americans and it is seeping into the Justice Department and the court. The CSKT people are undergoing a grave miscarriage of justice, which is detrimental to the Tribes and we must right the wrongs for what he went through. We have to resort to extraordinary measures to correct the egregious wrongs happening to our people. Ethan read a list of names of people that have succumbed to the justice system occurring on our reservation. Ethan had served a significant amount of time incarcerated due to a traffic violation that is not even found in the Criminal Code. It is not a crime and is in a completely separate section of the traffic code. It does not say anything about the charge preventing individuals from running for public office. Ethan has talked to legal people and they say he has a valid reason for his petition and for him to correct his criminal record. It would benefit the people if they could correct their criminal history. He is giving council the opportunity to intervene in the injustices happening to our people. Mr. Friedlander asked the Tribal Council to rule in his favor. The Tribal Council deliberated and ruled that based on the information provided to them and as it states in the Election Rules and Regulations regarding a felony being on his record, in order to file for tribal council candidacy it needs to be pardoned. The information provided today does not constitute a pardon so the council voted to affirm the Election Committee’s decision to deny Mr. Friedlander’s application for Tribal Council candidacy. The vote count was 6 for; 0 opposed; and 3 abstentions (Ellie Bundy, James “Bing” Matt, and Terry Pitts).

NOTE:  The official Council Minutes will contain more complete details about lengthy discussions and should be considered the official record of Council. Dispatches are written from notes taken live and may occasionally contain partial information, over-simplified characterizations or an occasional error. Council reviews and corrects the draft minutes before approving as the official record.  Comments (both affirmations and concerns) are part of change and are expected and encouraged. Along with any specific comments, please also share what you would like to hear more about in upcoming communications. The email address for comments is: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..