Here are the materials in Native American Arts v. Peter Stone Co. (N.D. Ill.):
250 Peter Stone Motion for Summary J on Standing
267 Peter Stone Motion for Summary J
271-1 Native American Arts Motion for Summary J
279 Native American Arts Response to 250
Here is the opinion in United States v. Crooked Arm.
From the court’s syllabus:
The panel affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s denial of a pretrial motion to dismiss for failure to state a felony claim an indictment charging two defendants with violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, vacated the sentences, and remanded.
The defendants argued that the counts to which they conditionally pled guilty were improperly charged as felonies because it is only a misdemeanor under the MBTA to sell
migratory bird feathers.The panel held that even under the defendants’ interpretation of the MBTA, Count I, which charges a conspiracy to kill, transport, and offer for sale and sell migratory birds, including bald and golden eagles, charges a felony.
The panel held that in regard to Count II, which charges unlawful trafficking in migratory bird parts, the allegations state a misdemeanor only.
Here is the complaint in Wyandot Nation of Kansas v. United States (Fed. Cl.):
Here is the complaint in Rosales v. Dutschke (E.D. Cal.):
An excerpt:
Plaintiffs, WALTER ROSALES and KAREN TOGGERY are Native American residents of San Diego County of one-half or more degree of California Indian blood, and former leaders of the half-blood Indian community, known as the Jamul Indian Village, “JIV,” who until recently lived on the Indian cemetery in Jamul, where their families have lived since the late 1800’s. Rosales and Toggery own and control their families’ human remains and funerary objects that were interred in burial sites below, on, and above the Indian cemetery. Those remains and objects have been feloniously disinterred and desecrated by the Defendants in a race to illegally build a casino on the U.S. government’s portion of the Indian cemetery property before they are stopped and the law is enforced.
Here:
Thorpe Petition and Appendix (00059355)
Question presented:
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) applies to “any” institution or state or local government agency that receives federal funds and “has possession of, or control over,” Native American human remains. The Act requires these covered entities to inventory those remains and, at the request of Native American tribes or lineal descendants, to return them.
The question presented is whether the absurdity doctrine allows courts to exempt otherwise covered entities from NAGPRA based on how the entity acquired the Native American remains.
Lower court materials here.
News coverage here. Thanks to MKN.
Here.
Here is the unpublished opinion in La Cuna De Aztlan Sacred Sites Protection Circle Advisory Committee v. Dept. of Interior.
An excerpt:
We conclude that the record, which includes declarations submitted by the Plaintiffs that provide little more than conclusory statements and which have not shown where the alleged sacred sites are located at the Ivanpah Project site, is insufficient to support Plaintiffs’ claim that the loss of access to the limited area taken by the Ivanpah Project imposes a substantial burden. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Plaintiffs, the Plaintiffs have not shown that they are either “forced to choose between following the tenets of their religion and receiving a governmental benefit,” or “coerced to act contrary to their religious beliefs by the threat of civil or criminal sanctions” as this court requires to establish a substantial burden under RFRA.
Briefs and lower court materials are here.
Turtle Talk 
You must be logged in to post a comment.