Copyright © 1999 NLThomas
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MINNESOTA - Yesterday the Supreme Court ruled that neither President Taylor's order nor Minnesota statehood extinguished the hunting and fishing rights reserved in treaties with the United States. This is an important decision, both for sovereignty and for democracy.

Decades ago, during the early Roosevelt administration, Felix Cohen, distinguished legal scholar and author who worked for the government, saw that the extent to which the United States upheld its own word in treaty pledges and obligations would be the test whereby democracy itself would be measured.

He referred to the treaties as the "miner's canary" of democracy. If the bird suffered from lack of oxygen, it would expire, thereby warning the miners to the danger they faced. Similarly, if the treaties failed, then democracy itself was in danger because the country is only as strong as its ability to uphold its own tenets and promises.

The vote on the Supreme Court case was 5-4 in favor of the Chippewa. Justice O'Connor wrote the opinion, for the majority which included her and Justices Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer. Dissenting Justices were Rehnquist, Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas.

The vote was close. But the court's long tradition of choosing a democratic reading held over the impulse to reform by moving the country away from keeping its word.

Related paths:

Supreme Court decision Syllabus, Opinion by O’Connor, Dissent by Rehnquist, Dissent by Thomas

Star Tribune - Treaty with the Chippewa, July 29, 1837