In May 2003, citizens of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma voted to remove the U.S. federal approval clause from their 1975 Constitution. The clause stated that no amendment or new constitution shall be effective without presidential approval.

Principal Chief Chad Smith said the Cherokee Nation was exercising its sovereignty by approving the new constitution without federal approval and has received all proper approvals by passing a vote of the Cherokee people in July 2003.

Now, by a 2-1 decision, the Cherokee Judicial Appeals Tribunal has ruled that the Cherokee Nation's 2003 Constitution is effective and the tribe's governing law.

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