The Tahlequah Daily Press is reporting that: The Cherokee Nation Supreme Court just issued an order saying the agreement between the tribe and the plaintiffs in the federal court case – namely the Freedmen – is in direct violation of the CN Constitution. In other words, the CN Supreme Court will NOT recognize the Freedmen. If the Freedmen votes are counted today, they will be in direct violation of the Supreme Court order. No word yet from the Election Commission on how this will be handled.
Developing.
Decision will NOT affect outcome of the election.
UPDATE: AG Diane Hammons says the ruling on the Freedmen will NOT affect the outcome of the election: "Our Cherokee Supreme Court ... cannot set aside a federal court order. The orders ... temporarily gave the Freedmen their citizenship rights back. ... The Election Commission is proceeding with counting absentee ballots... until a certified result is reached. ... [We in] the Cherokee Nation... pride ourselves on being true to [our] laws. Chief Crittenden and I agreed to the temporary order because it was far less intrusive ... to our tribal government than what the plaintiffs had sought. We faced the potential loss of federal funding, interference with our governmental relationship with the U.S., and the prospect of not having a determinative election for our chief. ... The temporary order merely restored the disenrolled Freedmen to the status quo they had enjoyed at the time of the original election in June. We had first asked our own Court to reconsider its original decision and restore the status quo, so the issue could be settled under tribal law, as it should be, but the court declined to act."
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