Colorado Politics

Colorado’s Gorsuch sides with liberal justices in 5-4 decision

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch broke with conservatives and joined four other liberal justices in a 5-4 tribal rights decision Monday.

The Supreme Court upheld a Native American man’s hunting rights under a 150-year-old treaty.

Crow tribe member Clayvin Herrera was charged in 2014 for off-season hunting in the Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming but argued that a treaty signed in 1868 between the tribe and Wyoming allowed him to hunt any time of the year.

The state argued the treaty was nullified in 1890 when Wyoming achieved statehood, lower courts agreed, and the case made its way to the Supreme Court.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one of four on the court appointed by Democratic presidents, wrote in the majority opinion there isn’t “any evidence in the treaty itself that Congress intended the hunting right to expire at statehood, or that the Crow Tribe would have understood it to do so.”

Gorsuch, a Coloradan who was nominated for the Supreme Court by President Trump in 2017, sided with liberal-leaning justices on another case involving Native American rights in March, writing a concurring opinion in the case.

Gorsuch, 51, received support from Native American organizations during his nomination. The groups cited his judicial record and his opinions on tribal sovereignty.

Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch in a Nov. 30, 2018, portrait at the Supreme Court Building in Washington.
J. Scott Applewhite / AP
Tags

PREV

PREVIOUS

Trump's EPA shifts more environmental enforcement to states

BOKOSHE, Okla. – Susan Holmes’ home, corner store and roadside beef jerky stand are right off Oklahoma Highway 31, putting them in the path of trucks hauling ash and waste from a power plant that burns the high-sulfur coal mined near this small town. For years, when Bokoshe residents were outside, the powdery ash blowing […]

NEXT

NEXT UP

To better serve black students, Denver will help a community group develop its school

The Denver school board took a vote that could signal a new era of collaboration in a district with a history of tense community relations. The board last Thursday was originally scheduled to decide the fate of two new schools proposed by community groups, including a high school with a focus on serving black students […]


Welcome Back.

Streak: 9 days i

Stories you've missed since your last login:

Stories you've saved for later:

Recommended stories based on your interests:

Edit my interests