Author: Matthew L.M. Fletcher

National Indian Law Library Bulletin (2/12/2020)

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

We have scoured the web. Here are some of the latest materials related to Indian Law. Find all of the latest updates at narf.org/nill/bulletins/

U.S. Supreme Court Bulletin 
http://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/sct/2019-2020update.html
Petitions for certiorari were filed in two cases on 1/30/20 and 2/3/20: 
James v. JW Gaming Development (Sovereign Immunity) 
Native Wholesale Supply Company v. California, ex rel. Xavier Becerra (Sovereign Immunity)

Federal Courts Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/federal/2020.html
Narragansett Indian Tribal Historic Preservation Office v. FERC (National Historic Preservation Act; Cultural Resources)
United States v. Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe of Washington (Sovereign Immunity)

State Courts Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/state/2020.html
Herpel v. County of Riverside (Tax Regulation)
In Regard to the Guardianship of Eliza W. (Indian Child Welfare Act)

U.S. Legislation – 116th Congress Bulletin 
https://narf.org/nill/bulletins/legislation/116_uslegislation.html
H.R.5850 – To expedite and streamline the deployment of affordable broadband service on Tribal land, and for other purposes.

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin (contact us if you need help finding a copy of an article) 
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/lawreviews/2020.html
Moving forward from the scoop era: Providing active efforts under the Indian Child Welfare Act in Illinois.

News Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/news/currentnews.html 
This week, in brief:

  • Court focuses on Native idea of family
  • Indian inmate files opening brief in Supreme Court sovereignty case
  • Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upholds Ute Indian Tribe’s exclusive right to control its lands
  • Gabe Galanda: The United States must help stop disenrollment
  • Sacred Native American burial sites are being blown up for Trump’s border wall, lawmaker says
  • South Dakota bars IDs and ‘disenfranchises’ tribal citizens
  • Cherokee journalist Rebecca Nagle wins prize for work on Indian law case
  • South Dakota approves $100 million solar project on Pine Ridge Reservation
  • Native American Jewish Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis tells us how she made history
  • Ballot harvesting or a voting assist?

Federal Court Holds Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe Has Standing to Bring Voting Rights Act Claims on Behalf of Tribal Citizens

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Spirit Lake Tribe v. Jaeger (D.N.D.):

51 Second Amended Complaint

54 Motion to Dismiss

55 Response

56 Reply

79 DCT Order

McGirt v. Oklahoma Background Materials

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Oral Argument Transcript:

Oral Argument Transcript

Merits Briefs:

Petitioner’s Brief

Respondent’s Brief

Petitioner’s Reply

2020 03 20 McGirt Joint Motion for Divided Argument and Enlargement of Time

Amicus Briefs in Support of Petitioner:

2020 02 11 Amicus Brief Brad Henry et al

2020 02 11 Amicus Brief Historians Legal Scholars Cherokee Nation

2020 02 11 Amicus Brief National Ass’n Criminal Defense Lawyers

2020 02 11 Amicus Brief National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center et al

2020 02 11 Amicus Brief NCAI

2020 02 11 Amicus Brief of Muscogee Creek Nation

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Amicus Briefs in Support of Respondent:

2020 03 20 Amicus Brief of United States

2020 03 20 Environmenal Fderation of Oklahoma, et al, Amicus Brief

2020 03 20 Int’l Municipal Lawers and Nat’l Sheriffs’ Assn Amicus Br

2020 03 20 States’ Amicus Br

2020 03 20 Tulsa Merits Amicus Brief

Oklahoma District Attorneys Amicus Brief

Cert Stage Materials:

mcgirt-cert-petition.pdf

appendix.pdf

oklahoma-brief-in-opposition.pdf

11th Annual Spokane County Bar Association Indian Law Conference — March 6, 2020

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

2020-02-10-scba-ils-cle-agenda.pdf

California COA Permits Possessory Tax on Leased Trust and Allotment Lands

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Herpel v. County of Riverside:

Opinion

Appellant Brief

Respondent Brief

Reply

Trial Court Order

House Oversight Committee Staff Report Accusing JUUL of Using Indian Country Vapers as Guinea Pigs

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

2020-02-04.rk-memo-re-juul.pdf

WaPo: “Sacred Native American burial sites are being blown up for Trump’s border wall, lawmaker says”

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

New Fletcher Paper: “The Rise and Fall of the Ogemakaan”

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Please check out my new paper, “The Rise and Fall of the Ogemakaan,” now available on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

Anishinaabe (Odawa, Bodewadmi, and Ojibwe) legal and political philosophy is buried under the infrastructure of modern self-determination law and policy. Modern Anishinaabe tribes are rough copies of American governments. The Anishinaabeg (people) usually choose their ogemaag (leaders) through an at-large election process that infects tribal politics with individualized self-interest. Those elected leaders, what I call ogemaakaan (artificial leaders) preside over modern governments that encourage hierarchy, political opportunism, and tyranny of the majority. While modern tribal governments are extraordinary successes compared to the era of total federal control, a significant number of tribes face intractable political disputes that can traced to the philosophical disconnect from culture and tradition.

Anishinaabe philosophy prioritizes ogemaag who are deferential and serve as leaders only for limited purposes and times. Ogemaag are true representatives who act only when and how instructed to do so by their constituents. Their decisions are rooted in cultural and traditional philosophies, including for example Mino-Bimaadiziwin (the act of living a good life), Inawendewin (relational accountability), Niizhwaaswii Mishomis/Nokomis Kinoomaagewinawaan (the Seven Gifts the Grandfathers or Grandmothers), and the Dodemaag (clans). I offer suggestions on how modern tribal government structures can be lightly modified to restore much of this philosophy.

Citizen Potawatomi Nation and Muscogee (Creek) Nation Intervene in Oklahoma Gaming Compact Suit

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the updated materials in Cherokee Nation v. Stitt (W.D. Okla.):

21 Citizen Potawatomi Nation Motion to Intervene

21-1 Complaint in Intervention

23 Muscogee (Creek) Nation Motion to Intervene

23-1 Complaint in Intervention

28 DCT Order Granting Motions to Intervene

Prior posts here.

Native Wholesale Supply v. California ex rel. Becerra Cert Petition

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Native Wholesale Petition

Appendix

Questions presented:

1. Whether a contract for the purchase of goods entered into, and fully performed by, an Indian Tribe outside the exterior boundaries of the state in which the Tribe’s reservation is located can constitutionally subject the out of state vendor to the specific personal jurisdiction of the buyer’s state, under state laws purporting to regulate the sale of those goods in the buyer’s state.
2. Whether a state has specific personal jurisdiction to regulate a purchase of goods contract between an Indian on an Indian reservation outside the state and an Indian Tribe located within the state’s boundaries when the contract is performed on the
out of state Indian reservation.
3. Whether there is a constitutional or statutory right afforded to an Indian of one tribe to conduct business free from state regulation with an Indian of a different tribe, both of which are located in Indian country, under the Indian Commerce Clause.
4. Whether a tribally chartered corporation wholly owned by a member of a federally recognized Indian Tribe is an Indian for purposes of the protections afforded to Indians under federal law.

Lower court materials here.

Update:

Brief in Opposition

Reply