United States v. Antelope

In United States v. Antelope, 430 U.S. 641, 97 S.Ct. 1395, 51 L.Ed.2d 701 (1977), the Indian defendants had broken into the home of another Indian on the reservation, robbed her and killed her. Federal jurisdiction over them as Indians under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1153 subjected them to the federal murder statute, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1111, which contains a felony-murder rule. Non-Indians were subject to Idaho law which contains no such rule. Therefore, had non-Indians committed the very same act against an Indian on the reservation, the prosecution would have had to prove against them the elements of premeditation and deliberation before a first-degree murder conviction could be obtained. The Supreme Court held that the application of the felony-murder rule to Indians under section 1153 was not an impermissible racial classification triggering serious equal protection concerns. The reason was that the defendants were subject to federal criminal jurisdiction because they were enrolled members of their tribe, not because of their Indian race. Id. at 646, 97 S.Ct. at 1398-99. The court noted that section 1153 jurisdiction "does not apply to 'many individuals who are racially to be classified as "Indians." ' " Id. at n. 7. (quoting Morton v. Mancari, 417 U.S. 535, 553 n. 24, 94 S.Ct. 2474, 2484, n. 24, 41 L.Ed.2d 290 (1974)). Also, defendants were subjected to exclusive federal jurisdiction only because their crimes were committed on an Indian reservation. Id. (citing Puyallup Tribe v. Department of Game, 391 U.S. 392, 397, 88 S.Ct. 1725, 1728, 20 L.Ed.2d 689 (1968)). The court went on to say that "since Congress has undoubted constitutional power to prescribe a criminal code applicable in Indian country, it is of no consequence that the federal scheme differs from a state criminal code otherwise applicable within the boundaries of the State of Idaho." Id. 430 U.S. at 648, 97 S.Ct. at 1400.