sovereign immunity – Page 138

Sixth Circuit to Decide Tribal Enterprise Immunity Case — UPDATED!

April 30, 2009April 30, 2009Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The case is Memphis Biofuels v. Chickasaw Nation Industries, being appealed to the Sixth Circuit from the Western District of Tennessee. The case involves the assertion by CNI, a Section 17 corporation, that it is entitled to sovereign immunity, and that there is no federal subject matter jurisdiction over this contract claim against it. The lower court granted CNI’s motion to dismiss and Memphis Biofuels has appealed to the Sixth Circuit.

Here are the lower court materials:

memphis-biofuels-complaint-and-exhibits

cni-motion-to-dismiss-and-exhibits

memphis-biofuels-response-to-motion-to-dismiss

cni-reply-motion-to-dismiss

cni-supplemental-memorandum

memphis-biofuels-supplemental-memorandum

memphis-biofuels-dct-order

Sixth Circuit materials:

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Tribal Court Order Regarding Attorney’s Fees Unenforceable

April 27, 2009April 27, 2009Kate Fort1 Comment

The Northern District of Oklahoma found that the Muscogee Tribal court did not have jurisdiction over the firm Crowe & Dunlevy who represented Thlopthlocco Tribal Town in an intratribal dispute. The case began in Muscogee Nation tribal court, but the firm eventually filed suit in federal district court to prevent enforcement of a tribal court order. Tribal sovereign immunity, Ex parte Young, judicial immunity, Rule 19 and Montana exceptions are all discussed in the decision.

Crowe & Dunlevy, P.C. v. Stidham, — F.Supp.2d —-, (N.D.Okla. Apr 24, 2009) (NO. 09-CV-095-TCK-PJC)

Federal Government Cert Opposition Brief in Marceau v. Blackfeet Housing Authority

April 17, 2009Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here is the government’s cert opp in this important sovereign immunity case — federal-cert-opp-marceau

The Supreme Court Project’s materials are here and the cert petition is here.

Colorado Supreme Court to Hear Tribal Sovereign Immunity Case

April 15, 2009Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

The Colorado Supreme Court granted certiorari in Cash Advance v. State ex rel. Suthers. We have posted on this case before (here and here). There was a similar case in California involving the same tribes.

Now would be a good time to talk settlement, tribal leaders. Tribal sovereign immunity shouldn’t be wasted on companies like Cash Advance and Ameriloan.

District Court Denies Preliminary Injunction — Oglala Sioux v. C&W Enters.

April 12, 2009Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Indianz reported here. Our previous posting with links to materials is here.

Here is the opinion — dct-order-denying-preliminary-injunction

And the brief filed opposing the injunction from C&W — cw-opposition-to-motion-for-injunction

Well-Pleaded Complaint Rule in Native Tobacco Wholesaler Case

April 11, 2009Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The case is Idaho v. Native Wholesale Supply, out of the District of Idaho. The district court remanded the case back to state court.

dct-order-remanding-to-state-court

native-wholesale-motion-to-dismiss

idaho-motion-to-remand

nws-opposition-to-motion-to-remand

idaho-reply-brief

Indigenous Law and Policy Center Occasional Papers — Updated

April 7, 2009Matthew L.M. Fletcher

We’ve posted several recent papers. Here is the website for all of our papers dating back to 2006.

2009-01: Advising – and Suing – Tribal Officials: On the Scope of Tribal Official Immunity by Matthew L.M. Fletcher and Kathryn E. Fort
2009-02: The Ethics of Pushing the Envelope in Indian Law Cases by Matthew L.M. Fletcher
2009-03: Supreme Court Reversal of Carcieri: Implications for Reaffirmed Michigan Indian Tribes by Novaline D. Wilson
2009-04: The Origins of the Indian Child Welfare Act: A Survey of the Legislative History by Matthew L.M Fletcher

Employment Discrimination Claim against Chickasaw Nation Industries Dismissed

April 7, 2009Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

The case is Bales v. Chickasaw Nation Industries, out of the District of New Mexico. Here is the DCT order — dct-order-dismissing-bales-complaint

An excerpt:

On March 31, 2008, Defendant filed Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction (Doc. No. 9) based on tribal sovereign immunity. On June 13, 2008, the Court informed the parties by letter that on March 19, 2008 the Tenth Circuit heard oral argument in Native American Distributing, et al. v. Seneca-Cayuga Tobacco Company, et al, 546 F.3d 1288 (10th Cir.2008)(hereinafter referred to as NAD ), a case discussing tribal sovereign immunity with respect to an Oklahoma tribal corporation. The Court also gave the parties an opportunity to supplement their briefs to address the significance of the Tenth Circuit’s decision in NAD. The parties, in fact, filed supplemental briefs. See Doc. Nos. 24, 25, and 26. Having considered the briefs (including the supplemental briefs) and the relevant law, the Court concludes that the motion to dismiss should be granted and that this lawsuit should be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

And the briefs:

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Tenth Circuit Briefing in Important Quiet Title Act Case

April 5, 2009Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The case is Sac and Fox Nation v. Salazar, and is in the Tenth Circuit. Since Carcieri v. Salazar, for a whole bunch of tribes, the Quiet Title Act (QTA) has become a terribly important statute. As readers will recall, the Act expressly preserves the federal government’s sovereign immunity in cases challenging title to Indian trust lands.

Sac and Fox, which involves the Secretary’s taking into trust of the so-called Shriner Tract in Kansas on behalf of the Oklahoma Wyandotte community, is perhaps one of the more ruthless applications of federal sovereign immunity, in that the parties and the courts in prior years had sought to avoid the application of the QTA by keeping open a case even after the land had been taken into trust. When the district court mistakenly closed the case, forcing the plaintiffs to refile, the QTA kicked in with a vengance, forcing the district court to dismiss (see lower court materials here).

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