United States v. Kagama

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. United States v. Kagama, 118 U.S. 375, 6 S.Ct. 1109, 30 L.Ed. 228 (1886), was a United States Supreme Court ruling that upheld the Constitutionality of the Major Crimes Act of 1885. This Congressional Act gave the federal courts jurisdiction in certain cases of crimes between Native Americans, even if the crimes were committed on an Indian Reservation. The importance of the ruling in this case was that it upheld the constitutionality of a Congressional act that held plenary power over Indian affairs. This plenary power, granted to the U.S. Congress by the Supreme Court, allowed Congress to pass the Dawes Act the following year. In a unanimous decision, authored by Justice Samuel Freeman Miller, the Supreme Court ruled that the Major Crimes Act was Constitutional, and, therefore, the case was within the jurisdiction of the federal courts. This ruling meant that the San Francisco Court's indictment would stand.