cert petition

SCOTUS Holds Creek Reservation is Indian Country

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion:

McGirt Opinion

Briefs here.

In a separate order, the Court affirmed Sharp v. Murphy:

Murphy Order

United States Petitions for Cert in Case Involving Tribal Police Authority to Detain Non-Indians

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the cert petition in United States v. Cooley:

Cert Petition

Question presented:

Whether the lower courts erred in suppressing evidence on the theory that a police officer of an Indian tribe lacked authority to temporarily detain and search respondent, a non-Indian, on a public right-of-way within a reservation based on a potential violation of state or federal law.

Lower court materials here.

SCOTUS Denies Cert in Noem v. Flandreau Santee Sioux Tax Case

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is today’s order list.

Cert stage materials in Noem v. Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe.

Rebecca Nagle Repudiating Oklahoma’s Factual Claims in McGirt/Murphy

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is “Oklahoma’s Suspect Argument in Front of the Supreme Court — The state claims that affirming a reservation in eastern Oklahoma could lead to thousands of state criminal convictions being thrown out. But that argument doesn’t seem to be based on facts” from the Atlantic.

The briefs are here.

Cert Petition in Diné Citizens against Ruining Our Environment v. Navajo Transitional Energy Co. LLC [updated with additional cert stage materials]

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Cert Petition
 

Question presented:

Whether Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 19 requires dismissal of an Administrative Procedure Act action challenging a federal agency’s compliance with statutory requirements governing federal agency decisions, for failure to join a non-federal entity that would benefit from the challenged agency action and cannot be joined without consent.

Lower court materials here.

UPDATE:

Navajo Transitional BIO

Arizona Public Service BIO

FMC Corp. v. Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Cert Petition [Updated]

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

cert-petition.pdf

Questions presented:

1. Whether the Ninth Circuit correctly holds that tribal jurisdiction over nonmembers is established whenever a Montana exception is met, or whether, as the Seventh and Eighth Circuits have held, a court must also determine that the exercise of such jurisdiction stems from the tribe’s inherent authority to set conditions on entry, preserve tribal self-government, or control internal relations.

2. Whether the Ninth Circuit has construed the Montana exceptions to swallow the general rule that tribes lack jurisdiction over nonmembers.

Lower court materials here.

Update:

Brief in Opposition

Reply

Cert Petition by Convicted RICO Defendant in Payday Lending Scheme Invoking Tribal Immunity

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the petition in Neff v. United States:

neff-cert-petition.pdf

us-waiver-letter.pdf

Questions presented:

1. Does a misrepresentation about the true identity of the owner of a business during settlement negotiations to resolve a civil lawsuit constitute a scheme to defraud the litigant of money or property in violation of the mail and wire fraud statutes?
2. Is the doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity wholly inapplicable in a circumstance where payday loans are made by a Native American tribe in affiliation with an entity acting as an “arm of the tribe” where such loans are made at interest rates in excess of state regulations, thus rendering the loans ipso facto unlawful debts in violation of the RICO statute?
3. Does the government have to prove willfulness to establish a RICO conspiracy to collect an unlawful debt?
Lower court materials here.