Arizona v. Navajo Nation

SCOTUSBlog Preview of Arizona v. Navajo Nation

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is “As drought persists in the west, justices to consider Navajo Nation’s rights to Colorado River.”

Background materials on the case are here.

SCOTUS Sets Oral Argument Dates for Navajo and LDF Cases

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Arizona v. Navajo will be argued on March 20, 2023.

LDF v. Coughlin will be argued on April 24, 2023.

Lunch in Indian Country CLE: Supreme Court Update on Indian Law [with Fletcher]

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Supreme Court Update on Indian Law

Co-Sponsored by the State Bar of Arizona and the State Bar’s Indian Law Section

January 18, 2023, 12:00-1:00 MST

1.0 Total CLE Unit

Join Professor Matthew Fletcher as he reviews the most recent Supreme Court decisions affecting Indian Country.

Faculty:

Matthew Fletcher, Harry Burns Hutchins Collegiate Professor of Law, Michigan Law

 
Chairpersons:
Doreen McPaul, President, Tribal In-House Counsel Association
Virjinya Torrez, Assistant Attorney General, Pascua Yaqui Tribe

Register: https://azbar.inreachce.com/Details/Information/1661e72a-831b-45a2-ad84-a06a235557ee

Merits Stage Briefs in Arizona v. Navajo Nation/Dept. of the Interior v. Navajo Nation

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

All this water is Navajo.
Interior Brief.pdfDownload
Arizona Merits Brief.pdfDownload
Colorado Merits Brief.pdfDownload
Western Water Users Amicus.pdfDownload

SCTOUS Grants United States and Arizona Petitions in Navajo Water Case

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here was yesterday’s order.

Prior post here.

Thinking if SCOTUS had some good frybread, they’d let Indian country have the nice things we deserve, like an enforceable duty of protection.

Dept. of Justice [almost certainly over Interior’s objections] and Arizona File Cert Petitions in Navajo Nation Water Rights Trust Suit

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the petition in Dept. of the Interior v. Navajo Nation:

US Cert Petition.pdfDownload

Question presented:

Whether the federal government owes the Navajo Nation an affirmative, judicially enforceable fiduciary duty to assess and address the Navajo Nation’s need for water from particular sources, in the absence of any substantive source of law that expressly establishes such a duty.

Here is the petition and the partial acquiescence by Justice in Arizona v. Navajo Nation:

Arizona v. Navajo Nation Cert Petition.pdfDownload
US Response — Arizona v. Navajo Nation.pdfDownload

Questions presented:

I. Does the Ninth Circuit Opinion, allowing the Nation to proceed with a claim to enjoin the Secretary to develop a plan to meet the Nation’s water needs and manage the mainstream of the LBCR so as not to in- terfere with that plan, infringe upon this Court’s re- tained and exclusive jurisdiction over the allocation of water from the LBCR mainstream in Arizona v. California?
II. Can the Nation state a cognizable claim for breach of trust consistent with this Court’s holding in Jicarilla based solely on unquantified implied rights to water under the Winters Doctrine?

Lower court materials here.

States’ Cert Petition in Navajo Nation Water Rights Case

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the petition in Arizona v. Navajo Nation:

arizona-v.-navajo-cert-petitionDownload

Questions presented:

I. Does the Ninth Circuit Opinion, allowing the Nation to proceed with a claim to enjoin the Secretary to develop a plan to meet the Nation’s water needs and *ii manage the mainstream of the LBCR so as not to interfere with that plan, infringe upon this Court’s retained and exclusive jurisdiction over the allocation of water from the LBCR mainstream in Arizona v. California?

II. Can the Nation state a cognizable claim for breach of trust consistent with this Court’s holding in Jicarilla based solely on unquantified implied rights to water under the Winters Doctrine?

Lower court materials here.