An opponent calls it a "leap into the great unknown" before a Senate panel approves it.
By LUCY MORGAN
Published March 31, 2004
TALLAHASSEE - Florida would be taking "a leap into the great unknown" if it gives up the right to prosecute crimes on Miccosukee Indian reservation land, a South Florida prosecutor said Tuesday.
Assistant State Attorney Richard Scruggs of Miami, who has spent years in state and federal courtrooms, made the prediction Tuesday in an unsuccessful effort to stop a bill that would take away the state's jurisdiction over crimes on Miccosukee land.
The bill is a priority of Senate President Jim King. The tribe has hired 17 lobbyists and contributed more than $500,000 to political campaigns in a three-year fight to settle its own affairs without state interference.
Moments after Scruggs spoke, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill 6-2, but several members suggested the issue needs more study.
Sen. Rod Smith, D-Alachua, the bill's sponsor, said the state should surrender jurisdiction over the Miccosukees but not without an agreement guaranteeing the state's right to extradite criminals and serve arrest and search warrants on the reservation.
Smith said he has been unable to get opposing sides to negotiate.
Florida's Seminole Indians are not involved in the bill. Lobbyist Van Poole said the Seminoles use state and federal courts and are neutral on the bill.
The Miccosukees consider themselves a sovereign nation and want jurisdiction over reservation lands, which include a casino, a golf and country club and a village at the edge of the Everglades.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Kathy Fernandez Rundle and the state's other 19 state attorneys, all 67 sheriffs and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement oppose the bill.
"The state would lose the ability to prosecute criminal cases not only in the Everglades, but also in urban areas where the casino and country club are," Scruggs said. "Crime victims will lose the right to prosecute crimes."
If the state gives up jurisdiction, all crimes or civil lawsuits would be tried in federal or tribal courts. Once the state surrenders jurisdiction, federal law prohibits it from being re-established. The Miccosukees say law enforcement's fears are unwarranted.
"People who commit felonies are pretty much taken care of," Miccosukee Chief Billy Cypress said after the meeting. "Criminals, we deal with."
Scruggs, a former U.S. prosecutor, said federal authorities would have no jurisdiction over a crime if the tribal court first decided against pursuing it. And even if federal officials want to pursue crimes committed on Miccosukee land, they don't have the needed investigators or prosecutors.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, federal resources have been redirected to fight terrorism, so ordinary crimes on the reservation are less likely to be pursued, Scruggs said. Several senators questioned a Miccosukee checkpoint on a public highway through the reservation.
Cypress said tribal officers at the checkpoint stop all cars between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. The roadblock is part of the tribe's "homeland security," Cypress said. The tribe's 529 members could easily be a target, he said.
The checkpoint is similar to one operated by game officials during hunting season, Cypress said. "I think it's just somebody with a little different-colored skin stopping you," he added.
Cypress wouldn't say how much the tribe has spent on lobbyists and campaign contributions.
"We donate to a lot of people we think are doing a good job."[Last modified March 31, 2004, 01:35:39]
