Federal Court Rejects Nonmember’s Challenge to Colorado River Indian Tribe’s Jurisdiction; Reservation Boundaries Challenge Unresolved

Here is the order in French v. Starr (D. Ariz.):

84 DCT Order

An excerpt:

Finding no impediment to this Court’s application of the doctrine of estoppel against Plaintiff, the Court concludes that Plaintiff is precluded by the terms of the Permit and by his conduct from asserting to this Court in the instant federal action that the lot he leased from CRIT was not within the boundaries of the Reservation to resist a determination that the Tribal Court had jurisdiction over the action brought by CRIT to evict Plaintiff and for damages. See Wendt, 2003 WL 21750676, at *5. The Court would also conclude that the Tribal Court properly applied the doctrine of estoppel to find its own jurisdiction in the underlying action, even though the lot may or may not be within the boundaries of the Reservation. The equitable considerations raised in this dispute— most notably, the policy of promoting tribal self-government and the development of tribal courts, see Iowa Mut. Ins. Co., 480 U.S. at 16-17, the recognition of a tribe’s inherent authority to exclude, see Water Wheel, 642 F.3d at 812-13, and the recognition of the government’s role as trustee of reservation land on behalf of the tribes, see Ruby, 588 F.2d at 704-05—weigh in favor of the Tribal Court’s application of the doctrine of estoppel to determine its jurisdiction in this matter.

And:

In concluding that this Plaintiff is estopped from asserting that the lot he leased from CRIT was not within the Reservation, the Court recognizes that the issue of the location of the Reservation’s boundary remains unresolved. Defendants rightly point out that, in the absence of estoppel, Plaintiff would have to overcome other obstacles in challenging CRIT’s title to the lot—none of which the Court need examine here— including whether the statute of limitations period has run on a challenge to the location of the Reservation’s boundary, whether the Secretary’s determination of the Reservation’s boundary is subject to collateral attack, and whether the United States and CRIT are indispensable parties to such a challenge under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 19.

Briefs are here.

News coverage here.

Employee Case Dismissed for Failure to Exhaust Tribal Remedies

Here are the materials in Resources for Indian Student Education Inc. v. Cedarville Rancheria of Northern Pauite Indians (E.D. Cal.):

14-1 Cedarville Motion to Dismiss

15-2 Cedarville Motion for Sanctions

18 Cedarville Tribal Court Motion to Dismiss

24 RISE Opposition to Rancheria Motion to Dismiss

25 RISE Opposition to Motion for Sanctions

26 RISE Opposition to Tribal Court Motion to Dismiss

29 Rancheria Reply

30 Tribal Court Reply

33 DCT Order

 

Job Posting: Tulalip Tribe Associate Judge Position

Job Announcement- Associate Judge

Sprint Communications Sues Oglala Sioux Tribe and Tribal Court over Utility Registration Fees

Here are the materials in Sprint Communications Co. LP v. Wynne (D. S.D.):

1 Complaint

1-1 Exhibit 1

1-2 Exhibit 2

1-3 Exhibit 3

1-4 Exhibit 4

Tribal Courts Conference — Denver — March 19-20, 2015

Here (PDF):

SKMBT_28315020517090_Page_1

Navajo Civil Jurisdiction over Deceased Tribal Member’s Body at Issue

Here is “California woman battles Navajo Nation over husband’s body.

Nooksack Tribe Gears Up for Reinstituting Disenrollment Proceedings

Here are the materials:

2013 – CI-CL-003 (ROBERTS) Notice of Compliance

2014-CI-CL-007 (BELMONT) Notice of Compliance

Federal Court Orders Exhaustion of Tribal Remedies in Claim against Western Sky-Related Lenders

Here are the materials in Brown v. Western Sky Financial LLC (M.D. N.C.):

92 Payday Financial Motion to Dismiss

94 Cashcall Omnibus Motion to Dismiss

97 Brown Response to Payday Financial

100 Brown Response to Omnibus Motion

102 Reply in Support of Omnibus Motion

103 Reply in Support of Payday Financial Motion

116 DCT Order on Exhaustion

An excerpt:

For the reasons described in detail in this Memorandum Opinion and in order to ensure that this matter is before the proper tribunal, this court finds most persuasive the cases holding tribal court exhaustion appropriate on the threshold issue of tribal court jurisdiction. Therefore, Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction (Doc. 91) will be denied without prejudice pending the determination of tribal court jurisdiction. Defendants’ Omnibus Motion (Doc. 93) will be granted in part in light of this court dismissing current proceedings without prejudice pending tribal court exhaustion and denied in part in that this court will not compel arbitration at this time.

We posted on this case a while back here.

 

“An Annotated Timeline of the Navajo Presidential Election Dispute”

From Paul Spruhan on SSRN.

Indian Law Jobs in New Mexico Bar Bulletin

Here.

I saw postings for an Isleta Pueblo judge and a Jicarilla water law attorney.