Steven K. St. Germaine v. Circuit Court for Vilas County

HARLINGTON WOOD, Jr., Circuit Judge.

We do not see many habeas corpus cases involving a driver’s license offense, but this case is different. Petitioner, Steven K. St. Germaine, an enrolled member of the tribe of Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, was convicted in state court of operating his motor vehicle on a state highway within the reservation after his driver’s license had been suspended. He challenges the jurisdiction of the Wisconsin state court to enforce the applicable state statute against him because of his status as an Indian and because the charged offense…