By Staff Reporter
IRVING — A bill that would let the Seneca Nation and the U.S. Justice Department end New York State’s 78-year-old criminal jurisdiction over Seneca territory now has sponsors in both houses of Congress, and the Senate version quietly differs from the House bill in ways that could matter a great deal in Western New York.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand introduced the Seneca Nation Law Enforcement Efficiency Act, S. 5483, on Sept. 23. It was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. It is a companion to H.R. 7065, which Rep. Nick Langworthy filed in January and which got a House subcommittee hearing on March 4. The Nation promoted the Senate bill again this week in its Oct. 16 official newsletter.
Both bills target a 1948 law, codified at 25 U.S.C. § 232, that gave New York criminal jurisdiction over offenses committed by or against Native people on reservations in the state. Neither bill repeals it outright. Instead, the state’s jurisdiction would stop applying on Seneca land only if the U.S. attorney general and the Seneca Nation both agree in writing.
What the sponsors say
“The Seneca Nation Law Enforcement Efficiency Act is a crucial first step in fixing a Termination-era law enforcement model that has existed for the last 78 years,” Ms. Gillibrand said in a statement announcing the bill. “This bill will enhance public safety and respect Tribal sovereignty.”
Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca described the bill as a response to drug trafficking on Nation land.
“The lack of clear and effective law enforcement and criminal jurisdiction on our lands has created an environment where drug dealers, drug traffickers and other criminals have thrived at the expense of the safety of the Seneca people,” President Seneca said. “The current archaic system of New York State jurisdiction puts our people in danger.”
Mr. Langworthy, a Republican whose district includes Seneca territory in Cattaraugus County, described it as a fix for a fragmented system.
“Our men and women in law enforcement are doing the best they can under challenging circumstances, but when authority is fragmented and accountability is unclear, resourceful criminals exploit the gaps and that’s exactly what we’ve seen happen,” Mr. Langworthy said.
A starker account in sworn testimony
President Seneca gave a much more detailed account to the House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs in March. In his written testimony, he said the drug crisis has brought overdoses and deaths, sex trafficking of Seneca women and “escalated community violence, including murder.”
He also pointed to a nearby city. “Jamestown, a small city, shockingly serves as the state’s second most active drug trafficking municipality, next to the Bronx,” he told the panel. The Buffalo Chronicle has not independently verified that ranking, which he attributed to the Nation’s own investigations.
He was blunt about the state’s record. “We have also learned that the State’s response to criminal activity in our territories is inconsistent at best and neglectful at worst,” he testified. He added that Seneca Nation marshals “do not exercise criminal law enforcement powers” and must rely on State Police and county sheriffs to deal with violent offenders.
The Interior Department’s witness, Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Bryan Mercier, stopped short of endorsing the House bill. “The Department recognizes that jurisdictional clarity is essential to effective law enforcement and public safety in Indian Country,” Mr. Mercier said in his testimony. He said the department “defers to the Department of Justice regarding the balance that this bill strikes and other concerns.” That matters, because the Justice Department is the agency that would have to sign off before anything changed.
How the Senate bill differs
A side-by-side reading of the two bills shows two changes in the Senate version.
First, the House bill covers the Nation’s “reservations.” The Senate bill instead covers Seneca “territory,” which it defines as any Seneca land that counts as “Indian country” under 18 U.S.C. § 1151, the main federal definition. Neither bill says whether that reaches parcels the Nation holds in restricted-fee status off its reservations. One example is the 5 Miami St. site in Buffalo’s Old First Ward, where the city is suing to stop a Seneca One Stop gas station. Whether such land is “Indian country” is a contested legal question, and the bill leaves it open.
Second, the Senate bill requires the attorney general to “consult in advance with the Seneca Nation of Indians and the State of New York” before agreeing to end state jurisdiction. The House bill has no such step. Albany would get a hearing but not a veto.
The bill also would not settle every question. In his testimony, President Seneca acknowledged “the U.S. Supreme Court’s position affirming the State’s role in addressing non-Indian criminal activity on our lands.” That appears to refer to the court’s 2022 ruling in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, which held that states share jurisdiction over crimes by non-Native people against Native people in Indian country.
Questions that remain
The bills arrive at a tense moment. The Nation is fighting the City of Buffalo in court over the Miami Street project. It is also negotiating a new gaming compact with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration. A Hochul spokesperson told Buffalo Toronto Public Media this month that “there is currently no agreement and conversations are ongoing.” In his testimony, President Seneca said the Nation’s “recent collaboration with Governor Hochul and the State Legislature has already laid the groundwork for future law enforcement cooperation.”
Some basic questions are still unanswered in the public record. Neither the Justice Department nor the governor’s office has publicly taken a position on the bill, as far as The Buffalo Chronicle could find. It is also unclear who would pay for and staff federal or tribal policing on the Allegany, Cattaraugus and Oil Spring territories, and how cases involving non-Native suspects would be handled.
The answers will shape public safety for more than 8,500 Seneca citizens living in New York, along with neighbors in Salamanca, Irving and Jamestown. The Buffalo Chronicle has asked the Nation, Ms. Gillibrand’s office and Mr. Langworthy’s office about those details. Any responses will be added to this story.
Featured photo: Interstate 86 in the Seneca Nation’s Allegany Territory. Photo by Andre Carrotflower via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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