State v. Keesee

We granted certiorari to consider the decision of the Court of Appeals reported at 327 S.C. 627, 490 S.E.2d 626 (Ct.App. 1997). We now reverse.

The dispositive issue in this appeal is whether the Catawba combination license issued to Catawba Indians pursuant to the terms of the Catawba Indian Claims Settlement Act1 (Claims Act) is the functional equivalent of a “combination hunting and fishing license” or of a “sportsman license.”2 If the Catawba combination license is the equivalent of a sportsman license, then petitioner’s magistrate’s court conviction for hunting on a wildlife management…