Cherokees May Delay Vote On Freedmen Citizenship

Phoenix Staff Reports

�In the future, it may well come to pass that the freedmen or other classes of Cherokee citizens are excluded by majority vote,� Leeds wrote. �To allow the initiative petition to move forward under this cloud of inequity is unconscionable. The majority has sent a clear message to the Cherokee people that our laws can be disregarded.�

Justice Darrell Dowty�s opinion filed Thursday that the process evidenced by the petitions �is so flawed that the sufficiency of signatures cannot be certified by this Court. Accordingly, I must respectfully dissent to the majority opinion.�

He concurred with Leeds that the conduct of some of the petition circulators was such that their certification could not be relied upon, �and I agree that there should be referrals for further investigation and prosecution.

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