United States v. Rogers

United States v. Rogers, 45 U.S. (4 How.) 567 (1846), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States holding that a white man, adopted into an Indian tribe, does not become exempt from the enforcement of the laws prohibiting murder.

United States v. Rogers
Argued March 2, 1846
Decided March 9, 1846
Full case nameUnited States v. William S. Rogers
Citations45 U.S. 567 (more)
4 How. 567; 11 L. Ed. 1105
Holding
A white man, adopted into an Indian tribe, does not become exempt from the enforcement of the laws prohibiting murder.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Roger B. Taney
Associate Justices
John McLean · James M. Wayne
John Catron · John McKinley
Peter V. Daniel · Samuel Nelson
Levi Woodbury
Case opinion
MajorityTaney

Background

William S. Rogers, a white man, was indicted for the murder of Jacob Nicholson, another white man, by the grand jury for the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Arkansas. The murder took place in the Indian Territory. Rogers claimed that he had been adopted into the tribe since his marriage to a Native American (Indian) woman and that he was now part of the Cherokee Tribe. He claimed that Nicholson had also been adopted into the tribe and was a Cherokee. Rogers claimed that as an Indian (by adoption), the United States did not have jurisdiction to try him for the murder of another Indian (also by adoption).[1]

Opinion of the Court

Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivered the opinion of the court. Taney noted that while the Cherokee nation and their treaties with the United States did have bearing, Rogers was a white man and a citizen of the United States. Whatever obligations and responsibilities that he incurred by his adoption into the tribe did not negate his obligations and responsibilities to the United States. Rogers was still a U.S. citizen and subject to federal laws.[1]

References
  1. United States v. Rogers, 45 U.S. (4 How.) 567 (1846)
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