Supreme Court

Tavares v. Whitehouse Cert Petition Denied

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is today’s order list.

Cert stage materials here.

Coverage of Upper Skagit Oral Argument

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

SCOTUSblog: “Justices dubious about tribal immunity from state-court actions to adjudicate title to land, but hesitant to embrace new theory”

Law360: “Justices Wary Of Weakening Tribal Immunity In Property Row”

Courthouse News: “High Court Grapples With Tribe’s Sovereign Immunity“

Oral Argument Transcript in Upper Skagit v. Lundgren

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Background materials here.

Harvey v. Ute Indian Tribe Cert Petition

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Harvey v. Ute et al. Petition

Questions presented:

1.Whether the tribal remedies exhaustion doctrine, which requires federal courts to stay cases challenging tribal jurisdiction until the parties have exhausted parallel tribal court proceedings, applies to state courts as well.

2.Whether the tribal remedies exhaustion doctrine requires that nontribal courts yield to tribal courts when the parties have not invoked the tribal court‘s jurisdiction.

Lower court materials here.

UPDATES:

cert opp brief

Reply

SG Brief [Ute]

Petitioners Supplemental Brief

MSU Truth and Reconciliation Conference Student Panel: Women of Color in Law School

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Osage Wind LLC v. Osage Minerals Council Cert Petition

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here:

Petition for a Writ of Certiorari

Questions presented:

1. Whether the court of appeals had jurisdiction over the appeal filed by a nonparty when the nonparty did not participate in any capacity in the district court proceedings.

2. Whether the Tenth Circuit improperly invoked the Indian canon of construction to deprive surface-estate owners who are members or successors-in-interest to Indian tribe members of important property rights by overriding clear regulatory language for the express purpose of favoring the economic interests of an Indian tribe without examining congressional intent.

Lower court materials here.

UPDATES:

Osage Minerals Council BIO

Reply

SG Brief [Osage]

Petitioner Supplemental Brief

NCAI Amicus Brief in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc.

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

NCAI Amicus Brief in South Dakota v. Wayfair

Supreme Court Affirms Dismissal of Suit in Patchak v. Zinke

Kate Fort2 Comments

Opinion here.

THOMAS, J., announced the judgment of the Court and delivered an opinion, in which BREYER, ALITO, and KAGAN, JJ., joined. BREYER, J., filed a concurring opinion. GINSBURG, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which SOTOMAYOR, J., joined. SOTOMAYOR, J., filed an
opinion concurring in the judgment. ROBERTS, C. J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which KENNEDY and GORSUCH, JJ., joined.

***

Petitioner, David Patchak, sued the Secretary of the
Interior for taking land into trust on behalf of an Indian
Tribe. While his suit was pending in the District Court,
Congress enacted the Gun Lake Trust Land Reaffirmation
Act (Gun Lake Act or Act), Pub. L. 113–179, 128 Stat.
1913, which provides that suits relating to the land “shall
not be filed or maintained in a Federal court and shall be
promptly dismissed.” Patchak contends that, in enacting
this statute, Congress impermissibly infringed the judicial
power that Article III of the Constitution vests exclusively
in the Judicial Branch. Because we disagree, we affirm
the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit.

Previous posts here.

Eastern Shoshone Tribe v. Wyoming Cert Petition

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Cert Petition

Question presented:

Whether Congress clearly intended in 1905 to di- minish the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, home to the Eastern Shoshone Tribe.

Lower court materials here.

UPDATE:

indian law profs amicus

SCOTUS Denies Cert in ICWA and Tribal Jurisdiction Matters

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is today’s order list. The Court denied cert in Renteria v. Superior Court & Norton v. Ute Indian Tribe.