cert petition

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]

March 23, 2020January 4, 2021Matthew 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

US Invitation Brief

FMC Supplemental Brief

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

March 20, 2020Matthew 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.

Cert Petition by Western Ranchers and Farmers Challenging Reserved Water Rights [updated]

March 20, 2020May 18, 2020Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the petition in Bales v. United States:

baley-cert-petition.pdf

Question presented:

Whether, against the legal backdrop of Congress’s and this Court’s recognition of the primacy of state law to determine, quantify, and administer water rights, a federal court may deem federal agency regulatory action under the Endangered Species Act to constitute the adjudication and administration of water rights for tribal purposes.

Lower court materials here.

Update:

05142020-1 PacificCoastFedFishermen Opposition Brief

OpposBriefUSA-20200514173954985_19-1134 Baley

McGirt v. Oklahoma SCT Argument Set for April 21

March 4, 2020Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the April calendar.

Here are the background materials on the case.

South Dakota Cert Petition in IGRA Preemption Case [updated with cert stage materials]

February 28, 2020May 5, 2020Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the petition in Noem v. Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe:

noem-v-flandreau-cert-petition.pdf

appendix-2.pdf

BIO

Question presented:

Does the Bracker test currently serve as a consistent and predictable rule of law in light of the exponential expansion of Indian gaming since 1988 and the fiscal demands the industry now places on state budgets?

Lower court materials here.