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Tahlequah, OK - The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (CNO) Judicial Appeals Tribunal (JAT) heard arguments on an appeal, Friday, June 18, concerning a lower courts ruling that would have forced 6 CNO council members to attend meetings. Chief Justice Phillip Viles Jr. and chief appointed Justice Darrell Dowty, will take some time to deliberate over the arguments before making a decision.

The 6 council members; Paula Holder, Troy Wayne Poteete, William Smoke, Barbara Starr Scott, Harold DeMoss and Nick Lay have been boycotting council meetings to halt voting on measures which they believe would disrupt or possibly destroy the CNO's Judicial system. The boycotting councilors fear they would be out voted by a slim majority of Byrd supporters.

There is also a question concerning the possibility of voting on an unbalanced budget. The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma's Constitution does not allow for unbalanced budgets. The councilors feel they are fulfilling their duty to the citizens of the CNO by boycotting the council meetings and thereby upholding the Constitution. The CNO Constitution states that council meetings must have a quorum (10 of 15 members present) before official business can be conducted.

The CNO's books have been audited by commercial and government auditors without success. Deloitte & Tousche referred to the CNO's books as unauditable. The tribe has been put on an allowance by the government and has been ordered to pay back misspent government funds, which was discovered during the audits.

Attorney Diane Hammons said, "We said we have a constitutional duty not to attend these meetings, which would call for the passage of illegal actions".

Towards the end of the proceedings, Justice Viles noted that Sunday marks the second anniversary of Chief Byrd's June 20, 1997 takeover of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma's Courthouse. The actions of the chief kept kept the JAT from hearing cases for about six months.