In re the Written Protest Against Initiative

DISSENTING OPINION OF JUSTICE LEEDS

STACY L. LEEDS, Justice.

This case involves a challenge to the sufficiency of an initiative petition. The proposed initiative seeks to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot at a special election. The amendment, if passed, will exclude a class of Cherokee citizens known as the Freedmen and invalidate the effect of this Court’s decision in Allen v. Cherokee Nation, JAT 04-09, 6 Am. Tribal Law 18, 2006 WL 5940403 (2006). There is no doubt that the Cherokee people have the legal right to amend the Constitution to redefine citizenship. The Cherokee people…