Eleventh Amendment – Page 3

In Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651 (1974), this Court held that a waiver of state sovereign immunity must be “stated ‘by the most express language or by such overwhelming implication from the text as will leave no room for any other reasonable construction.’” Id. at 673 (alteration omitted). This case concerns a gaming compact between the State of California and the Pauma Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pauma and Yuima Reservation. Both parties waived their sovereign immunity from suits arising under the compact, but only to the extent that “[n]either side makes any claim for monetary damages (that is, only injunctive, specific performance, including enforcement of a provision of this Compact requiring payment of money to one or another of the parties, or declaratory relief is sought) . . . .” App. 28a. A divided panel of the Ninth Circuit held that this limited waiver, which also appears in gaming compacts between California and 57 other tribes, waived the State’s immunity with respect to an award of $36.2 million in restitution.

The question presented is: Whether, under Edelman, the language of the limited waiver—which expressly excludes claims for “monetary damages” and references only injunctive relief, specific performance, and declaratory relief— waived the State’s sovereign immunity with respect to the district court’s monetary award.

Lower court materials here (panel, en banc).

Tenth Circuit Briefs in New Mexico v. Dept. of Interior (Challenge to Part 291 Regs re: Pojoaque Pueblo)

June 18, 2015Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here are the briefs:

Interior Opening Brief

Pojoaque Opening Brief

New Mexico Brief

Interior Reply Brief

Pojoaque Reply Brief

Lower court materials here.

Federal Court Invalidates Part 291 Secretarial Procedures in Pojoaque Pueblo Case

October 20, 2014Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here are the materials in State of New Mexico v. Dept. of Interior (D. N.M.):

37 Interior Motion for Summary J

39 New Mexico Motion for Summary J

40 Pojoaque Opposition

41 New Mexico Opposition

42 Interior Opposition

An excerpt:

Plaintiff State of New Mexico challenges the Department of the Interior and the Secretary of the Interior’s legal authority to implement regulations found in 25 C.F.R. § 291 (“Secretarial Procedures” or “Part 291 regulations”). The Secretarial Procedures, if adopted, would allow the Pueblo of Pojoaque to conduct Class III gaming on its reservation. New Mexico asks this Court to declare the Secretarial Procedures invalid because they conflict with the unambiguous terms of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (“IGRA”), 25 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq. and violate New Mexico’s sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment.

New Mexico Files Suit to Challenge Application of Part 291 Secretary Procedures to Pueblo of Pojoaque

August 11, 2014Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the complaint in State of New Mexico v. Jewell (D. N.M.):

1 Complaint

Here are the materials in Pueblo of Pojoaque v. State of New Mexico (D. N.M.) referenced in the complaint:

11 Pueblo of Pojoaque Motion for Default Judgment

15 New Mexico Response to Motion for Default Judgment

18 Pueblo of Pojoaque Response

20 New Mexico Answer

21 DCT Order Setting Aside Default Judgment

22 DCT Order Dismissing Case

We posted the complaint in that case here.

Ninth Circuit Rejects Another Matheson Objection to Tribal-State Tax Compact

December 27, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Matheson v. Smith:

CA9 Unpublished Memorandum

Matheson Opening Brief

Washington Brief

Matheson Reply Brief

Lower court materials here.

Tenth Circuit Decides Important Second Amendment/Official Immunity Appeal

February 22, 2013February 22, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in Peterson v. Martinez.

Not an Indian law case, but the material on state official immunity is interesting, in my view, because of how much of the Tenth Circuit’s jurisprudence on the subject derives from Indian law cases.

Federal Court Dismisses Effort by Puyallup Woman to Avoid State Wholesale Cigarette Taxes

May 21, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here are the materials in Matheson v. Smith (W.D. Wash.):

DCT Order Dismissing Matheson Complaint

Matheson Motion for PI

State Motion to Dismiss

Ninth Circuit Reinstates Native Alaskan Allottee’s Claims against BLM

August 1, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Jachetta v. United States:

CA9 opinion

Jachetta Opening Brief

Federal Appellee Brief in Jachetta

State of Alaska Appellee Brief

Jachetta Reply to Alaska

Jachetta Reply to Federal Brief

An excerpt:

In 1971, William Carlo Jachetta applied for a 160-acre Native allotment comprised of two parcels (Parcel A and Parcel B) but, because of an error of the United States government, his application was initially processed only as a request for Parcel A, which the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) issued to Jachetta in 1986. In 2004, after long and complicated administrative proceedings, the BLM finally issued Jachetta his allotment for Parcel B. By this time, however, Parcel B had been used as a “material site” by the State of Alaska Department of Transportation (“Alaska” or the “State”) and by the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company (“Alyeska”) who, among other things, had extracted over 700,000 cubic yards of gravel from the allotment. Dissatisfied with the physical condition of Parcel B, Jachetta sued the BLM, Alaska, and Alyeska in federal court, alleging causes of action for inverse condemnation, injunctive relief, nuisance, breach of fiduciary duties, and civil rights violations. The district court dismissed Jachetta’s action against the BLM and Alaska on the basis of sovereign immunity, and Jachetta appeals the dismissal to this court. We hold that sovereign immunity bars Jachetta’s entire action against Alaska but, at this point, only part of his action against the BLM.