Supreme court: Shirley can try for third term

WINDOW ROCK

Candidate for president Joe Shirley Jr. can continue his campaign to win a third term.

The Navajo Nation Supreme Court on Thusday upheld the Office of Hearings and Appeals’ dismissal of Vincent Harris Yazzie’s grievance against Shirley.

Yazzie had appealed OHA’s decision to dismiss his grievance, which brought it to the Supreme Court where Chief Justice JoAnn Jayne, Associate Justice Eleanor Shirley, and Associate Justice William Platero heard the case.

In Yazzie’s case against Shirley, who was the president from 2003 to 2011, he states that because Shirley is trying to run for a third term he is violating the Election Code because tribal law mandates an individual can serve only two terms.

“The statute is from Title 2 … it states specifically a president shall serve no more than two terms,” said attorney Bernadine Martin, who represented Yazzie. “The operative term in that statute is ‘shall.’ Shall, meaning mandatory, not negotiable.”

When Shirley tried to run for a third term in 2010 (Todecheenie v. Joe Shirley Jr.), the Supreme Court denied his bid to run. The court ruled that he had to sit out at least one term before running again. Since then no Council delegate, sitting president, or member of the public has ever broached the topic of term limits.

“Two NNC 1002 (D) is still good law,” said Farmington attorney Justin Jones, who represented Shirley. “It hasn’t changed yet. Nobody has even made a move to change that. The Supreme Court fulfilled their role … they defined it, they didn’t make a new law.”

In the end, Martin’s attempt to argue that the term limit issue will continue repeatedly as long Shirley decides to serve the public, unless someone decides to change it, was unsuccessful.

“You never know what they are going to say,” said Yazzie at the end of the hearing. “Especially when one of the justices from the Todecheenie case is here, Eleanor Shirley. I would expect her to recuse herself. It’s bold of her to be up here because of that.”

Joe Shirley said he was confident the court would rule in his favor. He wasn’t expecting to be challenged based on his attempt for a third term since in 2014 that wasn’t an issue.

“I’m glad the Navajo Supreme Court stood with the OHA,” said Shirley. “We feel good about it. I will continue campaigning. We’ve got 33 days. We haven’t let up even with all these shenanigans going on.”

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