Crow Nation

Gas Line Spills 25,000 Gallons on Montana Tribal Land

Victoria Sweet

A Phillips 66 pipeline with a record of prior accidents spilled an estimated 25,000 gallons of gasoline in a remote area outside a small town on Montana’s Crow Indian Reservation, but no public health problems were anticipated, federal officials said Friday.

A representative of the Houston-based oil refinery and chemical company said the amount of leaked gas likely was less than initially reported, although no alternate figure was offered. The initial estimate came from a report submitted by the company to the government’s National Response Center.

Federal and tribal officials and the company worked Friday to determine what caused the break in the 8-inch underground line. It occurred about 15 miles southwest of Lodge Grass, a town of about 430 people near the Wyoming border. The same line has seen at least three spills over the past two decades.

Story here.

NYTs Article on Oravec v. Cole

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

An excerpt:

Two families from the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana can proceed with a lawsuit against an F.B.I. agent that accuses him of failing to properly investigate crimes against American Indians on and around the reservation, the United States Supreme Court has ruled.

Ninth Circuit materials here.

Cert Opposition Brief in Bivens Action against BIA Officer

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the cert opp in Oravec v. Cole:

Cole Cert Opp

Petition is here. I still expect a CVSG or something here.

BIA Agent Subject to Bivens Action Files Cert Petition

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here is the petition in Oravec v. Cole:

Oravec v Crane Cert Petition

The question presented:

Whether a motion to dismiss brought by a federal law enforcement officer asserting qualified immunity should be granted under Aschroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009), where the complaint alleges a Bivens claim through nothing more than a formulaic recitation of the elements of the cause of action, general and unsupported statistics and musings, and alleged policy problems having nothing to do with the particular officer.

Lower court materials here.

Federal Court Dismisses Claims Relating to Bison Round-Up at Crow

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Siemion v. Stewert (D. Mont.):

Tribal Motion to Dismiss

MJ Order in Siemion

DCT Order in Siemion

Here is a description of the case from the MJ order:

Plaintiff Nelvette Siemion (“Siemion”), appearing pro se, filed her Amended Complaint on January 30, 2012, listing 14 counts. Am. Cmplt. (Court Doc. 32). This action stems from three general allegations that one or more of the named Defendants wrongfully (1) deprived Siemion of Crow Tribal land leases to which she was entitled; (2) rounded up, seized, and impounded about 200 head of Siemion’s bison causing her to incur penalties and costs to recover them; and (3) killed, butchered, and distributed the meat from three of Siemion’s bison bulls. The claims and the defendants against whom Siemion asserts them are discussed in more detail below.

Ninth Circuit Allows Bivens Action against FBI Agent that Failed to Properly Investigate Murder of Indians

Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

Here is today’s unpublished opinion in Cole v. Oravec. An excerpt:

Defendant-Appellant Matthew Oravec, an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, appeals from the district court’s denial of his qualified immunity motion in this Bivens action brought on behalf of two deceased Native American men. The Appellees are relatives of the two deceased men – Steven Bearcrane and Robert Springfield. The Appellees allege that Oravec violated their right to equal protection when he failed to conduct a sufficiently thorough investigation of the two deaths out of an alleged animus toward Native Americans.

Here are the briefs:

Oravec Appellant Brief

Cole Appellee Brief

Oravec Reply

NYTs: Crow Reservation Relics Found

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here.

An excerpt:

ABSAROKEE, Mont. — The bitter tale of Indian-white conflict that unfolded at this spot more than a century ago was told not in blood and battle, but in the legalese and fine print of a contract.

Now an archaeologist hired by the Montana Department of Transportation to plan for a road rebuilding project has found the physical evidence, in stones and building fragments that were until recently buried beneath shimmering waves of alfalfa just off State Highway 78.

“An Indian tribe faced the end of its traditional way of life, and it happened right here,” the archaeologist, Stephen Aaberg, said as co-workers sifted dirt through mesh screens on a recent afternoon.

For the Crow tribe, the events of March 1880, on which Mr. Aaberg has focused his research, proved devastating. That was when a draft agreement from Washington was read aloud to tribal leaders for the first time here, at a compound that served as the arm of the federal government on the reservation.

Ninth Circuit Affirms Supervised Release Condition on Indian Convict: Ban on Residing in Town on Crow Reservation

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the unpublished opinion in United States v. Yellow Mule.

Challenge to Crow Tribal Court Jurisdiction Dismissed on Exhaustion Grounds

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Switzer v. Dust (D. Mont.):

Switzer Magistrate Report

Switzer DCT Order

Hardin Prison, Crow Tribe, and Gitmo Detainees

Kate Fort

A year ago, the City of Hardin did not want the Crow Tribe to take over the large, empty prison which failed to bring in the promised jobs at the time of its construction.  Apparently the city was afraid the Tribe would “annex” the prison and somehow make it part of the reservation.

A year later, and with the prison still empty, the City of Hardin has offered to house the Gitmo detainees in the same prison.  Tribal involvement and BIA contracts were too scary, but the Gitmo detainees (and, one has to imagine, accompanying federal contracts) are just fine.