Author: Matthew L.M. Fletcher

NCAI Press Release on President Visit to Indian Country

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

NCAI Applauds President Obama’s Historic Visit to Indian Country

WASHINGTON, DC – The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) applauds President Obama for upholding his ongoing commitment to tribal nations and Native peoples by travelling to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation this Friday, June 13. Since taking office, President Obama has remained steadfast in honoring our nation-to-nation relationship. President Obama has kept his commitment to host the annual White House Tribal Nations Summit in Washington D.C. These summits have facilitated unprecedented engagement between tribal leaders and the President and members of his Cabinet.

At the 2013 White House Tribal Nations Summit, the President announced that he would visit Indian Country himself – a longtime priority of tribal leaders. Friday’s visit to Standing Rock fulfills that promise. This historic visit is the first by a sitting President in over 15 years and makes President Obama only the fourth President in history to ever visit Indian Country.

NCAI expects the President to address the economic development needs of tribal nations and the needs of Native youth.  While tribal youth are included in the Administration’s “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative, this Administration has always known that Native children have specific cultural and education needs that require focused attention.

For this reason, Indian Country has witnessed an unprecedented collaboration between the Secretary Jewell at the Department of the Interior and Secretary Duncan at the Department of Education, to study what is necessary to make sure that all of our Native students – in public schools, tribal schools, and Bureau of Indian Education schools have the tools they need to ensure a strong future for all Native children. In 2013, Secretary Jewell visited the Pueblo of Laguna to see first hand how a tribal education department was improving the quality of schools operations, performance and structure of BIE schools. She witnessed a nation that was engaged and excited to participate in efforts to improve educational outcomes in Indian Country.

It will take visits like this – the agencies working together with tribal governments and national organizations such as the NCAI and the National Indian Education Association to ensure that our students can be the future tribal leaders, teachers, health care workers, and entrepreneurs that our nations and the United States need to thrive for generations to come.

The President’s visit builds on ongoing efforts of his Administration to work closely with tribal nations on policy that affects their citizens. We trust the visit will be a catalyst for more policies that will not only succeed today, but cement the positive relationship between tribal governments and the federal government well into the future. President Obama has made annual summits between our nations in his words, “almost routine.” We trust this will be the continuation of his Administration’s engagement with our nations that makes visits to Indian Country by the President and his Cabinet routine too.

 

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Ninth Circuit Grants En Banc Review in Big Lagoon Rancheria v. State of California

Matthew L.M. Fletcher5 Comments

Here:

2014 0611 Order Granting Petition for Rehearing En Banc

En banc petition here. Supporting amicus briefs here.

Lower court materials here.

DOJ Taskforce on Native Children and Violence Meets in Alaska

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Updated Materials in Paskenta Dispute

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

6-9-14 Paskenta Tribal Council Letter to BIA Deputy Director Mike Smith

6-9-14 Notice of Appeal of BIA Cease and Desist Order

 

Updated Materials in Challenge to North Fork Casino Proposal

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here are updated materials in Stand Up for California! v. Dept. of Interior (D.D.C.):

85 Motion to Supplement Admin Record

86 North Fork Rancheria Answer

87 Federal Defendants Answer

Amended complaint here.

Sault Tribe Lansing Casino Trust Application Documents

Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

Here:

SSM Mandatory Trust Filing Lansing final 20140610

An excerpt:

The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Michigan (the “Sault Tribe” or “Tribe”) tenders this submission for a mandatory fee-to-trust acquisition of two parcels of land located in Lansing, Michigan:

(1) The “Corner Parcel,” a 0.43 acre parcel acquired by the Tribe on November 1, 2012, and

(2) The “Showcase Parcel,” a nearby 2.26 acre parcel that the Tribe has committed to acquire under an existing contract of purchase with the City of Lansing, Michigan.

The Tribe has acquired the Corner Parcel and will acquire the Showcase Parcel using interest or other income generated by the Tribe’s Self-Sufficiency Fund, established pursuant to section 108 of the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act (“MILCSA”), Pub. L. No. 105-143, 111 Stat. 2652 (1997). Under Section 108(f) of MILCSA, “[a]ny lands acquired using amounts from interest or other income of the Self-Sufficiency Fund shall be held in trust by the Secretary for the benefit of the [Sault] Tribe.” 111 Stat. at 2661-2662. The Secretary is thus required to accept the Parcels in trust.

Ex 1 Warranty Deed to Corner Parcel

Ex 2 Title Policy for Corner Parcel

Ex 3 Comprehensive Development Agrmt

Ex 4 Showcase Title Commitment & Proposed Warranty Deed

Ex 5 Legal Description & ALTA Survery for Corner Parcel

Ex 6 Legal Description & ALTA Survery for Showcase Parcel

Ex 7 Location Map

Ex 8 ST Bd Resolution 2012-11Auth Lansing CDA

Ex 9 ST Bd Resolution 2012-223 Auth Closing on Corner Parcel

Ex 10 Affidavit of CFO Connolly – Lansing

Ltr to Rosen w Mandatory Trust Subm 20140610

Sault Tribe Huron Township, Wayne County Trust Application Documents

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

SSM Mandatory Trust Filing New Boston final 20140610

An excerpt:

The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Michigan (the “Sault Tribe” or “Tribe”)  tenders this submission for a mandatory fee-to-trust acquisition of a parcel of land located  in Huron Charter Township, Wayne County, Michigan (the “Sibley Parcel” or “Parcel”)  under an existing contract of purchase. The Parcel is a 71 acre parcel of land located within  2 miles of other land currently owned by the Tribe in Huron Charter Township.

The Tribe will acquire the Parcel using interest or other income generated by the Tribe’s Self-Sufficiency Fund, established pursuant to section 108 of the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act (“MILCSA”), Pub. L. No. 105-143, 111 Stat. 2652 (1997). Under Section 108(f) of MILCSA, “[a]ny lands acquired using amounts from interest or other income of the Self-Sufficiency Fund shall be held in trust by the Secretary for the benefit of the [Sault] Tribe.” 111 Stat. at 2661-2662. The Secretary is thus required to accept the Parcel in trust.

Ex 1 Purchase & Sale – Sibley Final Executed

Ex 2 Title Commitment & Proposed Warranty Deed

Ex 3 Tribal Resolution 2012-250 & 2013-138

Ex 4 Legal Description & Survey

Ex 5 Location Map

Ex 6 Affidavit of CFO Connolly – Sibley

 

Sault Tribe Renews Motion to Dismiss Michigan’s Lansing Casino Suit in Federal District Court

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here:

49 Renewed Motion to Dismiss

This, in light of the State’s withdraw of its cert petition.

Wheat & Penn-Roco on Maxwell v. County of San Diego

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Scott Wheat and Amber Penn-Roco have written a short paper, “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Personal Liability Exposure for Tribal Officials in the Wake of Maxwell v. County of San Diego (PDF).

An excerpt:

From firefighting in California, to clearing mudslides in Washington State, tribal governments routinely respond when calamity strikes: both on and off the reservation. Unfortunately, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent decision in Maxwell v. County of San Diego, 708 F.3d 1075 (9th Cir. 2013), creates personal liability exposure for the tribal officials carrying out these good deeds. The Supreme Court’s suggested “special justification” for allowing off-reservation tort victims to sue tribal governments in Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community, 572 U.S. ___ (2014), only complicates matters. This article provides a brief background of the Ninth Circuit’s prior holdings concerning the extension of tribal sovereign immunity to tribal employees, a summary of the Maxwell decision, a discussion of the potential implications of the decision, and an overview of precautionary measures to limit Maxwell personal liability exposure.

Supreme Court Cert Petition in FTCA/Bivens Claims against Federal & Tribal Officers

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here is the petition in Dupris v. Proctor:

Dupris Cert Petition

Questions presented:

1. Whether this Court should resolve a split among the circuit courts of appeal, created by the Ninth Circuit panel decision in this matter, as to whether federal agents have “discretion” to arrest an individual without probable cause, for purposes of sovereign immunity under the “discretionary function” doctrine of the Federal Tort Claims Act?
2. Whether this Court should resolve a split among the circuit courts of appeal as to whether a law enforcement officer’s pre-arrest consultation with a prosecutor, standing alone, entitles the officer to qualified immunity?
3. Given the federal agents’ testimony that there were not any “positive identifications” of Petitioners, contradictory to what the agents told the tribal prosecutor, whether this Court should remand pursuant to this Court’s recent holding in Tolan v. Cotton, — U.S. –, 134 S.Ct. 1861 (2014), to ensure that the Court of Appeals properly viewed all evidence in the light most favorable to the Petitioners?

Lower court materials here.