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A comment on Court: Native American tribe can’t be a “sovereign” shield during patent review. Parent comment

Re:Court: Native American tribe can’t be a “sovereign” shiel... by smnrchrds on Wednesday July 25, 2018 @12:06PM (#17610311)
> Trouble is, as far as your question goes, various government entities including the Justice Dept. and the CIA, etc. were the ones taking advantage of the territorial immunity of the tribe concerned.

I just had the scary thought of the US setting up Guantanamo-like prisons on reservations. If it was legally possible, they probably would have done it already.

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Re:Court: Native American tribe can’t be a “sovereign” shiel... by Bartweiss on Wednesday July 25, 2018 @03:30PM (#17612080)
The plenary power doctrine holds that US tribes aren't sovereign with regard to the US federal government, which is why they're controlled by laws instead of treaties. This is also why you can't get tribal protection against federal criminal charges.

But the flip side of that is that tribal sovereignty can't protect government actions; as the superior power both Constitutional rules and international treaties would remain in force.

(I can't work out what's up with the Inslaw case. Tribal territory definitely doesn't legalize CIA arms deals, so there isn't even a motive for a conspiracy like that. But even Wikipedia suggests that case could "drive a sane man to madness".)

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