‘Law and Order’ on American Indian Land Faces Supreme Court Test

The Justice Department on Tuesday will try to convince the Supreme Court to “preserve law and order within reservation boundaries,” as the court hears argument over American Indian police power to detain and search non-Indians.

Backed by tribes, scholars, and politicians, federal officials are fighting what they deem a dangerous ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that sided with the criminal defendant on the search and seizure issue.

Officials want the high court to let tribes “exercise limited authority to investigate and temporarily detain non-Indians on a reservation in aid of state and federal law ...