Appellate Practice
Sep. 4, 2002
Courts Agree: Government Buildings Are Not People
Column by Garry Abrams - If you want to commit burglary and maybe get away with it, try breaking into a government building on a Native American reservation. That's one conclusion I draw from two recent rulings by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The rulings held that burglary charges stemming from break-ins to federal and state buildings on Indian reservations must be dropped because the buildings are not people, at least under provisions of the Indian Major Crimes Act.
If you want to commit burglary and maybe get away with it, try breaking into a government building on a Native American reservation.
That's one conclusion I draw from two recent rulings by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The rulings hel...
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