BREAKING NEWS! TURMOIL IN THE TURTLE MOUNTAINS
ADVERSE PUBLICITY BY THE TURTLE MOUNTAIN JUDICIAL BOARD AND WITNESS JUDGE WILLIAM ZUGER LEADS TO RESIGNATION OF TURTLE MOUNTAIN APPELLATE COURT JUDGE MICHAEL SWALLOW
4-20-14
BY DEBORAH LAVALLIE
Michael T. Swallow resigned Friday from his duties as Alternate Associate Judge to the Turtle Mountain Appellate Court where he has served for many years. In his resignation sent to the Turtle Mountain Tribal Court and Turtle Mountain Judicial Board, he stated that recent actions of the Judicial Board were the cause of his resignation and effective immediately.
"The recent actions of the Judicial Board to have internal affairs of the Tribal Court, to be publicized on TV, here in Bismarck on KFYR television, including the inclusion of the specifics of the investigation, the charges, etc. are unacceptable to me and I do not want to appear to condone such actions", he stated. He questioned the Judicial Board, "Why do this? This is a pending impeachment matter and to allow your main witness, Mr. Zuger, to comment on TV about a pending matter is completely unacceptable."
He went on, "The people involved in this matter are Turtle Mountain tribal members and have due process rights which Mr. Zuger is aware of. To generate publicity of the matter, prior to the hearing, is not something the Judicial Board should be allowing. To allow non Indians to come to the Tribe and manipulate the process is not something new to Mr. Zuger."
Swallow stated, "As a Judge of the Court where Mr. Zuger served, I am personally aware of his propensity to speak about the Tribe or our Court without proper authorization and that is common knowledge to our Tribal Court and my Tribe. The publicity surrounding the investigation illustrates the problems we have always had with Mr. Zuger when he served on the SRST (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe) Court, such as, unauthorized comments about the Court."
"Now, you have a pending impeachment matter that Mr. Zuger is a main witness for and he is allowed to publicly condemn the staff of the Court and try the case in public." He asked, "What is the purpose of allowing this unrestrained conduct?" "The people you have charged are enrolled members of your Tribe, duly elected by the people. Why would you want to allow internal tribal matters to be made public to the whole state of North Dakota and possibly to the entire nation, through Indianz.com?"
Swallow asked the Judicial Board, "Who is controlling this situation? The publicity surrounding this matter must be controlled to allow those charged the opportunity to a fair hearing, something Mr. Zuger accuses the accused of denying, but yet, he is allowed to engage in the same activity."
"I do not pretend to know the politics of the Tribe, but I would hope that you are capable of giving your own members a fair hearing." He said that he has always considered himself lucky to serve the Turtle Mountain Tribe, "but the publicity involving this matter, is something that I can't condone."
Recent turmoil within the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa began on April 10 when the Turtle Mountain Judicial Board voted to institute formal charges against Chief Judge Madonna Marcellais, Associate Judge Andrew Laverdure and Clerk of Court Jolene House who have 21 days from service of the complaint to respond to the allegations and charges. Attorney for the Judicial Board, Lynn Boughy has stated that the matter will likely be presented to an impeachment judge selected by the Judicial Board.
Judicial Board Chair Nicole LaFloe stated in the complaint that, "The Judges and Clerk refused to let us have access to files where we had a complaint, including public files. They even went so far as to sue the Board to prevent us from looking into the problems."
Turmoil in the Turtle Mountain court system has gone on for years, costing the Tribe much needed funds that could be used to improve the court and to hire more staff. Previously, the Judicial Board hired William Zuger, a long-time Chief Judge for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to review files and complaints of the Board. Judge Zuger's Conclusion based on his review accused the judges of lack of competence, lack of diligence and lack of professional ethics. And, the adverse publicity and swirling controversy began with Zuger's public chastisement and denouncement of the judges and clerk in his comments on the case in an interview to KFYR TV in Bismarck (ND) on April 14. "It struck me as it was kind of obvious. I mean, if the Judicial Board doesn't have a right to look at the files, then who does?" he stated. Zuger reviewed 25 cases and he says there was a problem with every one of them. "One of the biggest problems is related to tribal code." Most other news outlets in ND then carried the story resulting in a wide media blitz that included Indianz.com and the details of the case heavily debated on Facebook, which could result in possible charges of Violation of the Right to Privacy and also Slander. Personal details of the complaint and persons involved were being circulated through various social media sites.
In a statement to The Grand Forks Herald, tribal attorney Richard Monnette said the Judicial Board is the problem, not the Judges. "A lot of the procedures that are supposedly lacking are actually assigned to the Judicial Board. The Tribe's constitution states that the Board creates judicial policy. Any delays are caused by a lack of guidelines to follow. So, if the Judicial Board neglects to make rules, like they should, the judges have to move ahead anyway." The judges and clerk have declined comment at the present time.
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