First Circuit Brief in Penobscot Nation v. Mills

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here:

Penobscot Brief

US Brief

State Defendants Brief

State Intervenors Brief

Penobscot Reply

US Reply

Lower court materials here.

Tenth Circuit Briefs in Pueblo of Pojoaque v. State of New Mexico

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here:

Pojoaque Opening Brief

State Brief

Reply

New Mexico Supplemental Brief

Pojoaque Supplemental Brief

Lower court materials here.

Political Lies and the Future of Voting Rights

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Lies are often much more plausible, more appealing to reason, than reality, since the liar has the great advantage of knowing beforehand what the audience wishes or expects to hear. He has prepared his story for public consumption with a careful eye to making it credible, whereas reality has the disconcerting habit of confronting us with the unexpected, for which we were not prepared.

Hannah Arendt, Crises of the Republic

Be prepared for a massive purge of American voters, mostly Democratic Party-leaning, mostly minorities, from the rolls of register voters. The plan seems to be to claim that the President actually won the popular vote (a falsehood, by millions of votes), then to claim that millions of people voted for the Democratic Party candidate illegally (also a falsehood), then to audit voters in targeted locations (Mike Pence promised to do it), declare the audit actually did uncover millions of illegal voters (whether or not it’s true, and it’s not), and then purge them. It’ll have to be done in less than two years before the midterm election where, all things being equal, the Republican Party is headed for disaster.

Two entities in power can stop this — the Republican Party and the Roberts Court — but those are entities that are not going to do anything to assist the Democratic Party or minority voting rights. Rs believe almost religiously that illegal immigrants vote in large numbers, for example, all but foreclosing a Party response on that front. And the Roberts Court’s record on minority voting rights is just bad, possibly because the Chief Justice is not a fan of the voting rights act.

One can watch, or one can act.

Casino Patron Brings Federal Suit over Interpretation of Tribal Tort Claims Act

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the complaint in Wilson v. Umpqua Indian Development Corporation (D. Or.):

1 Complaint

1-7 Tribal Court Decision

Update:

15 Motion to Dismiss

Bill Wood on the IRA’s “Under Federal Jurisdiction” Provision

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

William Wood has published Indians, Tribes, and (Federal) Jurisdiction in the University of Kansas Law Review.

Here is an excerpt:

I argue that, doctrinally, all Indian tribes currently recognized as such by the U.S. government—all “federally recognized tribes”— necessarily were under federal jurisdiction in 1934. Under the doctrine of discovery (or discovery doctrine), the United States, like the European powers that preceded it, asserted jurisdiction regarding the Indigenous peoples within its claimed territories and assumed certain obligations to those peoples. As it developed this doctrine into the plenary Indian affairs power doctrine (or plenary power doctrine), the Supreme Court explained that the federal government had since its inception possessed this plenary jurisdiction regarding all Indians within the United States’ boundaries. It was part of the colonial relationship: because the United States claimed sovereignty over their territories, the Indians living there fell under the federal government’s jurisdiction.

Incoming Administration Memo to Dept. of Interior (Gag Order)

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is “Leaked Memo Silences Department of Interior.”

There is a link to the memo in the article, but here it is as well:

doi-memo-1-20-2017

And the text:

Memorandum
To: Chiefs of Staff, Bureaus and Offices
From: Julie Lillie, Director, Office of Executive Secretariat and Regulatory Affairs
Subject: Federal Register Documents and Correspondence Clearance Procedures

As we begin a new administration, it is important that the incoming policy team has an opportunity to review documents. Effective immediately, and in addition to your internal clearance processes, all Federal Register documents, including all notices, and all correspondence to or from the Secretary must be forwarded to the Office of the Executive Secretariat and Regulatory Affairs (OES) for review 5 days prior to any deadline for Departmental clearance, regardless of signature level. For Federal Register notices this includes, but is not limited to:

• any proposed or final regulation or policy action,
• notices of all meetings, including tribal consultation meetings,
• all notices related to NEPA documents
• information collection notices,
• FWS notices of low effect applications for permits,
• BLM notices of plat surveys, and
• BOEM quarterly notices of environmental documents prepared for the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf.

In addition to the above, all incoming congressional and gubernatorial correspondence as well as correspondence from Indian or Alaska tribal leaders and leaders from national level environment/recreational and industry organizations must be forwarded to OES prior to responding, regardless of addressee or signature level. No correspondence should be cleared to go to Congress or to any Governor until it has been reviewed by the Acting Chief of Staff and/or Senior White House Advisor. The OES will be responsible for tasking these letters for response . The incoming leadership team will decide whether to continue or modify these instructions.

Update in Paskenta Band v. Crosby

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are updated orders in Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians v. Crosby (E.D. Cal.):

299-dct-order-dismissing-umpqua-bank

342-dct-order-dismissing-gdk-consulting

358-dct-order-granting-cornerstone-bank-motion

359-dct-order-denying-moore-insurance-motion

360-dct-order-denying-pi-motion

Recall the CA9 recently revived the tribe’s effort to freeze Crosby assets, post here.

Also, the federal indictment of the Crosby family is here.

Standing Rock may be the first battle site in Trump’s war on the environment

Teresa Walrod1 Comment

From the article:

“Trump’s orders, in themselves, did not completely undo the Obama administration’s pipeline decisions, but they are clear indicators that such an outcome is in the works. TransCanada, the Keystone project’s owner, is being asked to resubmit the project application (with the caveat that Trump wants the pipeline built with 100% American steel). Meanwhile, the Army Corps of Engineers is being ordered to “review and approve in an expedited manner” the North Dakota pipeline plan of Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners.”

HERE

Galanda: “Obama’s Disenrollment Legacy”

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here.

Send Your Written Comments to the Army Corps by February 20th

Sarah M Donnelly3 Comments

In response to Daily Action’s call to contact the Army Corps of Engineers over Dakota Access Pipeline, here is a recommendation to comment on the agency’s notice of intent to prepare the pipeline’s environmental impact statement:

While Sierra Club offers a pre-written message, please consider writing your own comment, if you can. Visit these sites for more information on the federal register and what makes an effective comment:

Further Links:

UPDATE (15:52 ET):

Thanks to kylaluaz@yahoo.com for telling us about the Standing Rock EIS Information Group on Facebook.