Here: NCAI Amicus in Support of Cert Petition
Supreme Court
Holiday Reading: Jicarilla Apache Nation Cert Opp in Trust Case re: Federal Attorney-Client Privilege
Here: Jicarilla cert opposition.
The petition and link to lower court materials is here.
NYTs: “Supreme Court Opinions Long on Words but Short on Guidance”
A truly outstanding article by Adam Liptak (h/t to R.S.) appears here.
Rincon Band Cert Opposition in IGRA Revenue Sharing Case
Here: Rincon Band Cert Opp.
Petition is here, with link to the lower court materials.
Osage Nation v. Irby is the Petition of the Day
From SCOTUSblog:
Title: Osage Nation v. Irby
Docket: 10-537
Issue(s): (1) Whether, in determining whether Congress “disestablished an Indian reservation,” pursuant to Solem v. Bartlett (1984), courts are limited to the statutory text, legislative history, and views of the Executive Branch or can instead also consider other external indicia; and (2) whether the lower court properly ruled a Native American tribe’s reservation had been “disestablished.”
Certiorari-Stage Documents:
SCOTUSBlog Petition of the Day: Constitutional Challenge to Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement
From SCOTUSblog:
Title: S&M Brands, Inc. v. Caldwell
Docket: 10-622
Issue(s): (1) Whether a binding agreement among multiple states and private companies is immunized from antitrust scrutiny under the state-action immunity doctrine of Parker v. Brown, 317 U.S. 341 (1943); and (2) whether a binding agreement among multiple states, with both intra- and interstate effects, violates the Compact Clause, Article I, § 10, cl. 3 of the United States Constitution, in the absence of congressional approval.
Certiorari-Stage Documents:
Seems worthwhile for Indian country to watch this case, even participate, since the tobacco MSA has had such a dramatic impact on Indian country business activities.
Onion: Supreme Court Understudy Fills in for Scalia
From the Onion:
WASHINGTON—After waiting in the wings of the U.S. Supreme Court for three long years, understudy Albert Dorchester, 28, finally got a chance to fill in for Justice Antonin Scalia Tuesday when a sudden illness kept the veteran jurist from his usual duties. “This could be my big break,” said Dorchester, who since 2007 has studied every nuance of Scalia’s diction and mannerisms, as well as his trademark textualist jurisprudence. “I just wanted to get out there, let my talents shine, and show that I, too, can be a constitutional originalist and claim strict adherence to the intent of those who framed our nation’s founding document, thereby advancing a conservative agenda. Pretty sure I nailed it, too.” Dorchester added that he hoped the rumors that there was a president in the audience were true.
Cert Petition in API v. Sac and Fox Tribe (Iowa)
Here: API Cert Petition.
Questions presented:
The questions presented are:
(1) Do the federal agencies’ orders establish that the Walker Council had authority to control the casino and enter the contract, such that the Tribe’s claims must be arbitrated, not litigated in tribal court?
(2) Does the tribal court lack jurisdiction over the Tribe’s claims that petitioner committed tribal-law torts by entering into the casino, investigating the dissidents’ illegal operation of the casino, and receiving payments from the Walker Council?
Lower court materials here.
NYRB: Anthony Lewis on Justice Breyer on Democracy/Cherokee Nation
Here [subscr. req.].
Federal Court Update
Here is our federal court update document, which will probably also make its way to our Occasional Papers page at the end of the Supreme Court term. I’ve been asked for it a couple of times this morning, since I just finished giving the federal court update at the D.C. Federal Bar meeting.
The “-2” in the title indicates it is our second version–I anticipate we’ll be updating it through this Supreme Court term. We’ll change the title as we change the document. Version 1 is available at the Fed Bar website.
Turtle Talk 
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