United States v. Cooley

Late at night on February 26, 2016, Officer James Saylor of the Crow Tribe Police Department noticed a truck parked on the shoulder of U.S. Highway 212, a public right-of-way within the Crow Reservation in Montana. Saylor approached to offer assistance and observed that the driver, Joshua James Cooley, appeared non-Native and had watery, bloodshot eyes. Saylor also saw two semiautomatic rifles on the front seat. Fearing violence, Saylor ordered Cooley out of the truck and conducted a pat-down search. He then saw a glass pipe and a plastic bag containing methamphetamine. After backup arrived, including a federal Bureau of Indian Affairs officer, Saylor seized the contraband and took Cooley to the Crow Police Department, where federal and local officers questioned him. A federal grand jury later indicted Cooley on drug and gun offenses. Cooley moved to suppress the drug evidence, and the District Court granted the motion on the ground that the tribal officer lacked authority to investigate non-apparent violations of state or federal law by a non-Indian on a public right-of-way crossing the reservation. The Ninth Circuit affirmed.

The Supreme Court unanimously vacated the Ninth Circuit's judgment and remanded the case. The Court held that a tribal police officer has the 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. Justice Breyer authored the unanimous opinion, and Justice Alito filed a concurring opinion.

Whether a tribal police officer has the authority to temporarily detain and search a non-Indian person traveling on a public right-of-way running through an Indian reservation for potential violations of state or federal law.

The decision affirmed inherent tribal sovereignty and clarified that tribal police officers may conduct limited investigatory stops of non-Indians on public highways within reservations, strengthening public safety in tribal communities. It represented the first time the Supreme Court found that a tribe's interest in addressing a threat to its political integrity, economic security, health, or welfare was strong enough for the tribe to exert government authority over a non-Indian. The ruling has significant implications for the balance between public safety and individual rights in Indian country and for the scope of tribal authority over non-Indians within tribal territory.