Here are the materials in Dolgen Corp. v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (S.D. Miss.):
Dollar General Motion for Summary J
Materials from a 2008 TRO motion in the same case are here.
tribal courts
Ninth Circuit Denies Fourth Amendment Challenge to Search on Crow Reservation
Here is the unpublished opinion in United States v. Littlebird.
An excerpt:
More importantly, significant intervening circumstances exist to sufficiently purge the taint of the illegal stop. First, prior to the interview, Littlebird was arraigned in the Crow Tribal Court and received appointed counsel. Second, the record reflects that Littlebird himself likely initiated the interview with the investigating officers. Third, before the interview he spoke with his Tribal counsel—a crucial factor in attenuation. United States v. Wellins, 654 F.2d 550, 555 (9th Cir. 1981). And finally, his counsel was present during the entire interview.
Materials in Fine v. Pojoaque Pueblo Gaming Commission
Fine Point has posted case materials here.
- 12/9 Ruling on Case
- 10/13 Ruling on Motion to Dismiss
- 9/26 FPG Rebuttal to PPGC Response to Principal Brief
- 9/16 FPG Response to Motion to Dismiss
- 9/6 Pojoaque Response to Principal Brief
- 8/23 Pojoaque Motion to Dismiss
- 8/5 FPG Principal Brief
- 6/27 Pojoaque response to Statement of Case
- 6/15 FPG Statement of Case
Tulalip Housing Construction Contract Dispute Remanded Back to State Court; Federal Court Awards Atty. Fees
Here are the materials in Lewis v. Raymond James Native American Housing Opportunities Fund II LLC (W.D. Wash.):
Fund Opposition to Remand Motion
Gustafson v. Poitra Cert Petition
Here is the petition (docket no. 11-701):
Gustafson v Poitra Cert Petition
Here are the questions presented:
1. Whether the State of North Dakota can supplant its own state case law, instead of federal law on jurisdictional disputes between state courts and tribal courts.
2. Whether the State of North Dakota has subject matter jurisdiction over a contract dispute between a nonmember individual and a member of an Indian tribe arising from the ownership and use of a building located on non-Indian owned fee land on an Indian reservation.
Here is the lower court opinion. Here is Gustafson’s lower court brief. And Poitra’s. Poitra was pro se.
Tenth Circuit Considers Prior Tribal Court Convictions in Sentence Enhancement Case
Here is the unpublished opinion in United States v. Romero.
The underlying conviction was for assaulting a Bureau of Indian Affairs corrections officer.
An excerpt:
Mr. Romero argues that the district court should not have considered his 2003 tribal court conviction because he pled guilty without the assistance of counsel. He fails, however, to develop this argument. He cites no case holding that a district court is precluded from considering a defendant’s prior, uncounseled tribal court convictions in its departure analysis, and in fact, our precedents do not support his contention. Cf. United States v. Concha, 294 F.3d 1248, 1253-54, 1255 (10th Cir. 2002) (upholding district court’s consideration of criminal conduct underlying uncounseled foreign convictions in departure analysis); United States v. Wyne, 41 F.3d 1405, 1409 n.5 (10th Cir. 1994) (disapproving of another circuit’s reversal of upward departure on basis that misdemeanor convictions were uncounseled).
Job Announcement: Project Director for Northwest Intertribal Court System
On Tribal Courts and the Navajo Bond Offering
Here is news analysis of the Navajo bond offering (AK previously posted about this last week). An excerpt:
S&P’s Jacob says the Navajo offering is unusual because tribes traditionally have borrowed directly from banks or sold bonds backed by gaming revenue. There are $5.3 billion of Native American bonds outstanding, according to a Bloomberg analysis.
The Navajo bonds will be sold to institutional investors in a private placement as soon as year-end and will include both taxable and tax-exempt debt, says Goe, the bond counsel.
The Navajos intend to seek investors willing to settle disputes in tribal courts, a first for a bond issue, Goe says. Clarkson says the requirement “would be a reaffirmation of the legitimacy of tribal courts – this time from the financial market.”
Yet it may also make the issue harder to sell. Lyle Fitterer, who helps oversee $26 billion of municipal bonds at Wells Capital Management in Menomonee Falls, Wis., says the tribal-court stipulation “is one more hurdle in terms of investing in a deal like this” and could lead to the Navajos paying higher rates.
Mike Lettig, executive vice president for Native American financial services and agriculture at Cleveland’s KeyBank, hopes the Navajo issue will be “a start for tribal governments to enter the public finance markets routinely.”
KeyBank’s KeyBanc Capital Markets unit will handle the placement.
Would love to be a fly on the wall in those discussions about tribal courts. Lenders routinely demand a higher rate from tribes in these deals when the deal involves tribal court jurisdiction. Why? Especially at Navajo, where tribal law is published online, the Navajo Reporter, and in West’s Navajo Nation Code (also online). I am sure the lenders’ discussions about tribal courts will be double-coded; that is, they’ll do everything they can not to offensive, while perhaps being insulting all along.
Navajo Nation SCT Hears Case at Yale Law School
The Supreme Court of the Navajo Nation came to Yale to hear a case on Monday evening. Photo by Jennifer Cheung.
News coverage here.
Navajo Nation to Offer Bonds
Bloomberg Businessweek article here. An excerpt
The largest American Indian tribe, the Navajo Nation, plans to issue its first bonds in a $120 million offering that would be the biggest sale of nongaming tribal debt in at least a decade. The tribe intends to use the money to create thousands of jobs and stimulate the economy on its reservation in America’s Southwest. Despite the Navajo Nation’s energy revenue, more than 37 percent of the reservation’s 170,000 residents lived below the federal poverty level in 2009. “I am concerned with the time when we won’t have revenues from our natural resources,” said Katherine Benally, head of the Navajo Nation Council’s resources and development committee, while taking a break from a council budget session in Window Rock, Ariz. “We need to be ready for that.”
and
The Navajo bonds will be sold to institutional investors in a private placement as soon as yearend and will likely include both taxable and tax-exempt debt, says Goe, the bond counsel. The Navajos intend to seek investors willing to settle disputes in tribal courts, a first for a bond issue, Goe says. Clarkson says the requirement “would be a reaffirmation of the legitimacy of tribal courts—this time from the financial market.” Yet it may also make the issue harder to sell. Lyle Fitterer, who helps oversee $26 billion of municipal bonds at Wells Capital Management in Menomonee Falls, Wis., says the tribal-court stipulation “is one more hurdle in terms of investing in a deal like this” and could lead to the Navajos paying higher rates.
Turtle Talk 
You must be logged in to post a comment.