United States v. Cooley

What happened

Late one night, Officer James Saylor of the Crow Police Department approached a truck parked on United States Highway 212, a public right-of-way within the Crow Reservation in Montana. The driver, Joshua James Cooley, appeared to be non-native and had watery, bloodshot eyes. Saylor saw two semiautomatic rifles lying on the front seat.

Fearing violence, Saylor ordered Cooley out of the truck and did a patdown search. He saw a glass pipe and a plastic bag that contained methamphetamine. Federal and local officers questioned Cooley, and a federal grand jury indicted him on drug and gun offenses.

The district court suppressed the drug evidence, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed. It reasoned that a tribal officer could stop and briefly hold a non-Indian suspect only if the officer first tried to determine the suspect was non-Indian and then found an apparent violation of state or federal law.

On June 1, 2021, Justice Breyer wrote for a unanimous Court that "a tribal police officer has authority to detain temporarily and to search non-Indian persons traveling on public rights-of-way running through a reservation for potential violations of state or federal law." The Court said the second exception recognized in Montana v. United States, covering conduct that threatens or directly affects the tribe's health or welfare, "fits almost like a glove here." It vacated the Ninth Circuit's judgment and sent the case back. Justice Alito filed a concurring opinion.

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