Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez

What happened

Julia Martinez, a member of the Santa Clara Pueblo who lived on the reservation in northern New Mexico, married a Navajo man in 1941. Two years earlier the Pueblo had passed the membership ordinance at issue in the case. The ordinance denied membership to children of female members who marry outside the tribe, but not to similarly situated children of male members.

Martinez and her daughter Audrey sued the Pueblo and its Governor in federal court. They said the ordinance violated Title I of the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968, which provides that no tribe shall "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of its laws." The Act's only express remedy is habeas corpus, a way to test the legality of a detention by tribal order.

On May 15, 1978, the Supreme Court reversed the Tenth Circuit. Justice Marshall wrote that suits against the tribe under the Act "are barred by the tribe's sovereign immunity from suit." The Court also held that the Act does not impliedly allow a private suit against the Governor. It said Congress deliberately gave no remedy other than habeas corpus, in keeping with a commitment to tribal self-determination, and that tribal forums are available to decide such claims.

Justice White dissented.

Good to know. The ruling decided which court may hear the claim, not the merits of the membership rule.

Summarized with AI assistance from 3 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error