tribal courts

Navajo Gaming Loan Threatened

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

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:

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Leech Lake Tribal Attorney Fired

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Bemidji Pioneer:

Leech Lake Tribal Council members vote to fire legal director who was investigating them

Molly Miron Bemidji Pioneer
DL-Online – 01/14/2008

Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Legal Director Michael Garbow was put out of his job and locked out of his office Friday in a ruling by a faction of the Leech Lake Tribal Council.

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Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land & Cattle Co. Materials — Additional Update

Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

Here is the entire set of Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land and Cattle Co. materials, with the addition of two tribal court lower court orders:

ETA: Final SCOTUS decision has been added to this post as well.

Tribal Court Denial of Bank’s Motion for Summary Judgment

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Cert Opposition in MacArthur v. San Juan County

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

The cert opp in MacArthur v. San Juan County is here — San Juan County Cert Opp

Our previous post with the cert petition is here.

Commentary on the Plains Commerce Bank Cert Grant

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The Supreme Court’s decision to grant certiorari in Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land & Cattle Co. surprised me a great deal. It proves, I think, that Indian law scholars and practitioners cannot claim to predict how the Supreme Court is going to act (no big surprise there, given how few Indians or Indian lawyers have clerked for the Court), but I also think it shows that the so-called Supreme Court bar can miss one every now and then [SCOTUSBlog’s Petitions to Watch seemed to miss this one].

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KU Tribal Law and Governance Conference Agenda

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Kansas’s Tribal Law and Government Center is hosting the 2008 conference on Feb. 1, 2008. Speakers include Lance Morgan, Howard Valantra, Phil Frickey, Stacy Leeds, Angelique EagleWoman, Taylor Keen, Russ Brien, and others. Looks like a great field! H/T Legal Scholarship Blog:

The agenda is here.

Saginaw Chippewa Banishments

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

From the Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun:

Tribe banishes four

By MARK RANZENBERGER
Sun Online Editor

The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe has begun using a very old method of dealing with problems in a new way: invoking the ancient tribal practice of banishing troublemakers from tribal lands.

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Emory Sekaquaptewa Obit in the LA Times

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Emory Sekaquaptewa

Created dictionary of Hopi language

Emory Sekaquaptewa, 78, an anthropologist, judge and artist who was called the “Noah Webster of the Hopi Nation,” died Dec. 14, the University of Arizona announced.

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NM Ct App ICWA Decision: Cherino v. Cherino

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here’s the opinion, reversing a trial court decision transferring a simple Indian child custody case to the Isleta Pueblo tribal court.

From KVIA:

Custody dispute doesn’t belong in tribal court, appeals court says

Associated Press – December 19, 2007 7:05 PM ET

SANTA FE (AP) – Custody disputes involving Indian children and their biological parents may not be transferred from state court to tribal court.

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United States v. Killeaney — Sixth Amendment and the Dual Sovereignty Doctrine — A Circuit Split involving Tribal Law Enforcement & Tribal Courts?

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

The District Court for the District of South Dakota recently declined to suppress evidence obtained in a criminal investigation at the Rosebud. This case has the potential to go to the Supreme Court (a circuit split already exists and another could arise) and could be a significant problem for tribal criminal law enforcement.

The defendant allegedly committed a crime on tribal lands, initially investigated by the tribal police and prosecuted in tribal court. The defendant made statements to police while being represented by a tribal public defender, who was not a lawyer or a law school graduate (however, the director of the tribal public defender office is a lawyer). The US would like to use those statements in the federal prosecution of the same offense. The question is when the defendant’s Miranda and the Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches. If the CA8 reverses this decision and holds that they attach at the tribal court level, then there will be two circuit splits.

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