District of North Dakota

Federal Court Hold Turtle Mountain Tribal Court Has Jurisdiction over Indian Claims against Insurance Company

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in State Farm Insurance Companies v. Turtle Mountain Fleet Farm LLC (D.N.D.):

25 Greenwoods Motion for Summary J + Tribal Appellate Court Decision

27 State Farm Motion for Summary J

27-1 Tribal Court Complaint

27-3 State Farm Tribal Court Motion to Dismiss

37 Greenwood Response

38 State Farm Response

39 State Farm Reply

42 MJ Order

An excerpt:

In summary, the court concludes that the tribal court does have jurisdiction over the Greenwoods’ claims against State Farm. In reaching this conclusion, the status of the title of the land is not a significant consideration. Rather, the important factors for purposes of this case, given the nature of the activity at issue, are that the insurance policy was issued to members of the Tribe and is for a residence located on the reservation. Consequently, the court would reach the same conclusion if the Greenwoods’ residence was situated on non-Indian owned fee land.

Federal Court Complaint in Turtle Mountain Reservation Leasing Dispute

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the complaint in Grenier v. Delorme (D.N.D.):

1 Complaint + Exhibits

An excerpt:

On or about March 18, 2010, Plaintiffs and Defendant entered into a ten – year Lease of Real Estate (“Lease”) for Defendant’s land located at tract number 324-5065 and described as E/2NE/4, of Section 3, Township 161 N., Range 71 W., Rolette County, North Dakota. This land is not located on the Turtle Mountain Reservation, but is trust land. A  copy of the Lease is attached hereto as Exhibit A. Prior to entering into the Lease, Plaintiffs had farmed the land subject to the Lease for over thirty years.

 

Opening Eighth Circuit Brief in Two Shields v. Wilkinson

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here:

opening brief of plaintiffs-appellants

addendum to brief of plaintiffs-appellants

The MSU ILPC filed an amicus brief in this matter as well:

Two Shields ILPC Amicus Final

Lower court order here:

108 Order Granting Motion to Dismiss

Here are the opening lines of the appellants’ brief:

Appellees engineered and executed a scheme to swindle hundreds of millions of dollars in oil-and-gas lease revenue from Appellants Ramona Two Shields and Mary Louise Defender Wilson and the class of Native Americans they propose to represent. Yet the District Court concluded that Appellants could not, as a matter of law, pursue their North Dakota common-law claims against Appellees simply because Appellees involved the United States in their swindle. Based on that fact alone, the District Court found that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 19 required dismissal of Appellants’ entire case.

There is a parallel suit against the United States in the CFC.

 

Federal Court Holds Tribal Courts May Adjudicate Claims against On-Rez Public Schools in North Dakota

Matthew L.M. Fletcher4 Comments

Here are the materials in Belcourt Public School District v. Davis (D. N.D.):

19 Belcourt Motion for Summary J

19-6 TMAC Appellate Decision

26 Defendants Response

27 Belcourt Reply

33 DCT Order

And here is the opinion in Fort Yates Public School District #4 v. Murphy (D. N.D.):

40 DCT Order

We posted materials in this matter here.

Spirit Lake Leadership Dispute — Yankton v. Hopkins

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the federal court complaint:

Roger Yankton Sr. Amended Complaint

News coverage here and here.

Eighth Circuit Decides DISH Network Must Exhaust Tribal Court Remedies in Dispute at Turtle Mountain

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the opinion in DISH Network v. Laducer:

CA8 Opinion

Briefs are here.

Lower court materials are here.

Eighth Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Spirit Lake Tribe ex rel Committee of Understanding and Respect v. N.C.A.A.

Kate Fort

Opinion here.

The Spirit Lake Tribe of Indians, by its Committee of Understanding and Respect, and Archie Fool Bear, individually and as representative of more than 1,004
members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe – collectively, “the Committee” – sued the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for interfering with the University of North Dakota’s use of the Fighting Sioux name, logo, and imagery. The NCAA moved to dismiss. The district court1 treated the motion as one for summary judgment and granted it. The Committee appeals. This court affirms.

Previous coverage here.

Eighth Circuit Briefs in Fighting Sioux Appeal

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here are the briefs in Spirit Lake Tribe of Sioux Indians ex rel. Committee of Understanding and Respect v. NCAA:

CUR Appellant Brief

NCAA Appellee Brief

CUR Reply

Oral argument is Feb. 14.

Lower court materials and commentary here. And, yes, I stand by my comments in that post. If the CA8 doesn’t affirm in an unpublished memorandum or simply without comment, I would be surprised.

Federal Court Complaint Filed Alleging Turtle Mountain Tribal Court “Bad Faith”

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here are the materials in Knight v. Vondal (D. N.D.):

Knight v Vondal Complaint

Tribal Court TRO

Federal Court Declines to Order Convicted Indian Drug Dealer to Repay Feds’ “Buy Money”

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the order in United States v. Lester (D. N.D.):

DCT Order Denying Restitution in Sentence

An excerpt:

Finally, the court could always impose a fine in the amount of the “buy money.” In fact, 21 U.S.C. § 844(a) has its own special provisions for fines, which, among other things, provide that, upon conviction “a person who violates this subsection shall be fined the reasonable costs of the investigation and prosecution of the offense …, except that this sentence shall not apply and a fine under this section need not be imposed if the court determines under the provision of Title 18 that the defendant lacks the ability to pay.”