A recent ruling from the Cherokee Tribal Court has called the authority of Grand Council into question. Temporary Associate Judge Sharon Tracey Barrett denied a request for a court order stopping Tribal Council from pursuing impeachment against Principal Chief Patrick Lambert, though 84 percent of enrolled members who cast ballots during an April 18 Grand Council session voted to repeal the impeachment legislation.

Unless the U.S. Supreme Court steps in, some or all of North Carolina’s state senators and representatives will face re-election a year early, not even a year into their new terms. 

The afternoon of Sept. 27 took an unusual turn in the Cherokee Justice Center when Human Resources Employment Manager Patricia Watkins and a pair of Cherokee Indian Police Department officers arrived to escort Chief Justice Bill Boyum off the premises.

A request by Gov. Pat McCrory to reinstate North Carolina’s 2013 voter identification requirement and shortened early voting period was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court last week.