On Tuesday in United States v. Cooley, the Supreme Court upheld a power that tribal governments have long assumed they possessed as a basic necessity of ensuring public safety. The court held that tribal governments — and thus their police officers — retain the power to temporarily stop, and if necessary, search non-Indians traveling on public rights-of-way (highways) through reservations for suspected violations of federal or state laws. The unanimous opinion was authored by Justice Stephen Breyer. The decision represents an important affirmation of tribal inherent sovereign power by the new court and the first time the court has ever found that a tribe’s interest in addressing a threat to its political integrity, economic security, health or welfare was strong enough for the tribe to exert government authority of any kind over a non-Indian.
From Helen Padilla, director of the American Indian Law Center:
To the Pre-Law Summer Institute Alumni, Professors, and Family,
The American Indian Law Center, Inc. regrets to inform our vast network of Pre-Law Summer Institute (PLSI) alumni that UNM School of Law Professor Emeritus and former Dean Fred Hart passed away on June 6, 2021. In 1967, Professor Fred Hart and Dean Tom Christopher created a Special Scholarship Program in Law for American Indians at UNM School of Law. This Special Scholarship Program was the pre-cursor to the Pre-Law Summer Institute. In the 53 years since that pivotal summer, the Pre-Law Summer Institute has remained faithful to its mission to prepare American Indians and Alaska Natives for the rigors of law school by essentially replicating the first semester of law school in an intensive two-month program. For decades, PLSI alumni have been leaders throughout Indian Country and the United States, including U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, who is the first indigenous member of a President’s cabinet in our country’s history. Professor Hart probably never imagined that the summer program he helped to launch eventually would produce a Secretary of the Interior and countless other leaders. Nonetheless, we at the American Indian Law Center remain ever grateful for and mindful of his role in creating the most successful pre-law prep program in the U.S. for American Indians and Alaska Natives. Fred Hart’s life teaches us all that the efforts of one person can make a difference that echoes far and wide across generations. We offer our sincere condolences to Professor Hart’s family and friends.
We interviewed Professor Hart in 2017 as part of PLSI’s 50th Anniversary celebration. The PLSI History page link: https://www.ailc-inc.org/plsi-history/
We have scoured the web. Here are some of the latest materials related to Indian Law. Find all of the latest updates at https://narf.org/nill/bulletins/
S.1868 – A bill to amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to require that equitable distribution of assistance include equitable distribution to Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations, to increase amounts reserved for allotment to Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations under certain circumstances, and to reserve amounts for migrant programs under certain circumstances, and to provide for a Government Accountability Office report on child abuse and neglect in American Indian Tribal communities.
S.1880/S.1897 – A bill to direct the Federal Trade Commission to submit to Congress a report on unfair or deceptive acts or practices targeted at Indian Tribes or members of Indian Tribes, and for other purposes.
S.1895 – A bill to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award additional funding through the Sanitation Facilities Construction Program of the Indian Health Service, and for other purposes.
S.1901 – A bill to amend the Act of June 18, 1934, to reaffirm the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for Indian Tribes, and for other purposes.
S.1911 – A bill to provide for the settlement of the water rights claims of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, and for other purposes.
S.1951 – A bill to make additional Federal public land available for selection under the Alaska Native Vietnam era veterans land allotment program, and for other purposes.
S.1957 – A bill to establish digital services in State, county, local, and Tribal governments, and for other purposes.
H.R.3587 – To prescribe procedures for effective consultation and coordination by Federal agencies with federally recognized Tribal Governments regarding Federal Government actions that impact Tribal lands and interests to ensure that meaningful Tribal input is an integral part of the Federal decision-making process.
H.R.3649 – To extend Federal recognition to the Mono Lake Kutzadikaa Tribe, and for other purposes.
In the summer of 2016, a large fire, later known as the Dog Head Fire, engulfed Isleta Pueblo and United States Forest Service land in the Manzano Mountains of New Mexico. By the time it was extinguished, the fire had burned several thousand acres of land. The fire resulted from forest-thinning work performed by Pueblo crewmembers under an agreement with the Forest Service. The partnership to thin the forest arose after numerous fires had beset the surrounding areas.
Insurance companies and several owners of destroyed property (collectively, “Appellants”) sued the government, alleging negligence under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”). Their negligence claims fell into two categories: the government’s own negligence arising from acts of Forest Service employees, and the government’s negligence arising from acts of the Pueblo crewmembers. The government moved to dismiss, arguing that the court lacked jurisdiction and, alternatively, for summary judgment on that same basis. The district court granted the government summary judgment. First, the court concluded that the Pueblo crewmembers had acted as independent contractors of the government, and thus, the government wasn’t subject to FTCA liability based on the Pueblo crewmembers’ negligence. Additionally, the court barred these claims under the FTCA’s administrative-exhaustion requirement. Second, the court barred Appellants’ claims premised on the Forest Service employees’ own negligence, under the FTCA’s discretionary-function exception.
On appeal, Appellants contend that the district court erred in ruling that the FTCA jurisdictionally barred their claims. We disagree. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm.
Turtle Talk 
You must be logged in to post a comment.