Seymour v. Superintendent of Washington State Penitentiary

What happened

Paul Seymour was charged with burglary by the State of Washington in Okanogan County. He pleaded guilty to attempted burglary and was sentenced to seven and one-half years in the state penitentiary.

He then asked the Washington Supreme Court for habeas corpus. He said he was an enrolled member of the Colville Tribe and that the crime happened in "Indian country," so only the United States had jurisdiction under federal law. The state court found he was a member of the Colville Tribe. But it denied relief on the ground that the place was no longer an Indian reservation, though it had once been part of the Colville Indian Reservation.

On January 15, 1962, the Supreme Court reversed. Justice Black wrote that "The Colville Indian Reservation is still in existence." The Act of March 22, 1906, which provided for the disposition of surplus lands in the South Half of the diminished reservation, did not dissolve it.

The Court added two points. Even if a non-Indian held the land by a patent in fee, the federal definition of "Indian country" covers "all land within the limits of any Indian reservation ... notwithstanding the issuance of any patent." And it made no difference that the offense happened in a townsite laid out by the federal government under the 1906 Act. The state courts therefore had no jurisdiction to try him.

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