Robinson v. Tucker — RICO Class Action against Miami Tribe/Santee Sioux Payday Lending Business Partners

Here:

Robinson RICO Suit

Federal Court (“with misgivings”) Rejects Environmental Challenge to Highway Near Haskell

Here is the opinion in Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation v. FHA (D. Kan.): DCT Judgment in Favor of FHA

Federal Court Dismisses Federal Prisoner’s Complaint against Tribal Police

Mostly.

Here is the slip opinion in Johnson v. Pottawatomie Tribal Police Dept. (D. Kan.): Johnson v Pottawatomi Tribal Police

Wyandotte Tribe Immunity Defense “Premature” in EEOC Charge

Here are the materials so far in Gonzales v. 7th Street Casino (D. Kan.):

Casino Motion to Dismiss

DCT Order Requiring Supplemental Briefing

Apparently, the Wyandotte Tribe’s business enterprise owns the casino, so it shouldn’t be a major issue. Not sure why the district court is asking for additional briefing.

Miami Tribe Trust Case against US Fails

Here is the opinion in Miami Tribe of Oklahoma v. United States (D. Kan.) — Miami Tribe v US DCT Order

An excerpt:

In this case, Miami Tribe alleges that Defendants stand in a fiduciary relationship with respect to the requested transfer of Smith’s interest in Miami Reserve and with respect to protecting the trust status of Miami Reserve and the jurisdiction of the Miami Tribe over Miami Reserve. According to Miami Tribe, Defendants have breached their trust obligations and fiduciary duties by the BIA’s refusal to approve Smith’s application, refusal to approve the transfer of Smith’s interest in trust for the benefit of Miami Tribe, refusal to timely consider and act on Smith’s appeal of the denial of his request for transfer, failure to protect and recognize Miami Tribe’s jurisdiction over Miami Reserve, and failure to maintain and hold Miami Reserve in trust for the benefit of its Indian owners.

The Court has determined that Miami Reserve is not being held in trust by the United States and, except for a brief period of time after the 1989 partition order, has never been held in trust by the United States. Because Miami Reserve was originally conveyed to Smith’s relative as a restricted allotment, and its status as a restricted allotment has never changed, Defendants do not have any fiduciary duties with respect to its management that may arise from a trust relationship. This would include any fiduciary duty to maintain the status of Miami Tribe as a trust allotment.

Federal Court Dismisses Employment Discrimination Complaint against Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas

Here is the opinion in Nanomantube v. Kickapoo Tribe (D. Kan.) — Nanomantube v Kickapoo DCT Order

And the tribe’s motion to dismiss — Kickapoo Motion to Dismiss

From the Topeka Capital-Journal:

WICHITA – The Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas has won its argument that it is entitled to sovereign immunity as a federally recognized Indian tribe.

U.S. District Judge Richard Rogers cited the tribal immunity Thursday when he tossed out a discrimination lawsuit filed by the former acting casino manager.

Robert Nanomantube claimed in his suit that as a tribal descendant he was entitled to “Indian preference” under the tribe’s employment policies. The job he wanted went to a non-Indian.

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Indian Preference in Employment Case in Kansas

The Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas has filed a motion to dismiss a claim by a former tribal employee that he was entitled to Indian preference before being fired as a casino manager (news article via Pechanga here). The case is Namomantube v. Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas.

Kickapoo Motion to Dismiss

Tenth Circuit Briefing in Important Quiet Title Act Case

The case is Sac and Fox Nation v. Salazar, and is in the Tenth Circuit. Since Carcieri v. Salazar, for a whole bunch of tribes, the Quiet Title Act (QTA) has become a terribly important statute. As readers will recall, the Act expressly preserves the federal government’s sovereign immunity in cases challenging title to Indian trust lands.

Sac and Fox, which involves the Secretary’s taking into trust of the so-called Shriner Tract in Kansas on behalf of the Oklahoma Wyandotte community, is perhaps one of the more ruthless applications of federal sovereign immunity, in that the parties and the courts in prior years had sought to avoid the application of the QTA by keeping open a case even after the land had been taken into trust. When the district court mistakenly closed the case, forcing the plaintiffs to refile, the QTA kicked in with a vengance, forcing the district court to dismiss (see lower court materials here).

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Sac and Fox Nation v. DOI Materials

Here are the materials in the most recent order from the district court in this long-running case (H/T Indianz).

dct-order-on-motion-to-vacate-2001-decision

govt-motion-to-dismiss

sac-and-fox-opposition-brief

govt-reply-brief

DCT Opinion