Apparently, persons covered by the Federal Tort Claims Act retain immunity from suit by exercising their “discretion” to place children with alleged child molesters without warning the parents. Hinsely v. Standing Rock Child Protective Services (CA8)
Here are the briefs:
The Tenth Circuit granted the government’s motion for rehearing and issued a revised opinion.
CA10 Panel Decision (pre-rehearing)
This is a case out of the Second District of the California Court of Appeals. The question was whether Congress intended to waive the sovereign immunity of Indian tribes in the US Bankruptcy Code. There appears to be a split of authority on the subject, with the Ninth Circuit [Krystal Energy Co. v. Navajo Nation] saying yes, and the Tenth Circuit [In re Mayes] and an Iowa district court [In re National Cattle Congress] saying no. The Cal. App. followed the Ninth Circuit case. It is unpublished.
Here are the materials:
We blogged previously about the lawsuit filed in Navajo tribal court over the proposed Navajo gaming loan. It turns out the lawsuit was successful in apparently causing the lender to change the terms of the deal (H/T Indianz). This is an interesting development and probably not a welcome one from the perspective of gaming tribes. If tribal court lawsuits challenging the terms of a gaming-related loan, or in this case the authority of the Navajo legislature to approve the loan, are successful in any area, my guess is the price for loans will go up everywhere.
Update: No suit has been filed in the Navajo Nation courts. The 30 day waiting period required by the Navajo Sovereign Immunity Act (the title doesn’t use “Nation”) just expired and we were preparing to file suit. There has been no public announcement, but there are rumors to the effect that the notice of suit stopped the loan. They are now looking at other sources of funding for the casino, such as a trust fund set aside for acquiring land.
From Indianz:
A case that I suspect has a pretty good shot at being heard by the Supreme Court, Jones v. Jennings, will be on the Court’s conference agenda for January 18, 2008. The case involves the smashing of the Narragansett Tribe’s fledgling smokeshop by state officers. Jones, the police officer, broke the ankle of Jennings, a tribal member, during the conflagration (which was caught on tape and played all over Indian Country for months).
In particular, the questions presented are:
This is tribal sovereign immunity case. The district court granted the tribe’s motion to dismiss. Here are the materials:
Turtle Talk 