Liz Reese Commentary on Cooley Decision

From SCOTUSBlog, here is “Court unanimously holds that Indian tribes retain the inherent power to police non-Indians.”

Decision and materials here.

SCOTUS Reverses in United States v. Cooley

Here is the unanimous opinion from Justice Breyer.

An excerpt:

The question presented is whether an Indian tribe’s police officer has authority to detain temporarily and to search a non-Indian on a public right-of-way that runs through an Indian reservation. The search and detention, we assume, took place based on a potential violation of state or federal law prior to the suspect’s transport to the proper nontribal authorities for prosecution.
We have previously noted that a tribe retains inherent sovereign authority to address “conduct [that] threatens or has some direct effect on . . . the health or welfare of the tribe.” Montana v. United States, 450 U. S. 544, 566 (1981); see also Strate v. A–1 Contractors, 520 U. S. 438, 456, n. 11 (1997). We believe this statement of law governs here. And we hold the tribal officer possesses the authority at issue.

Another excerpt:

More broadly, cross-deputization agreements are difficult to reach, and they often require negotiation between other authorities and the tribes over such matters as training, reciprocal authority to arrest, the “geographical reach of the agreements, the jurisdiction of the parties, liability of officers performing under the agreements, and sovereign immunity.” Fletcher, Fort, & Singel, Indian Country Law Enforcement and Cooperative Public Safety Agreements, 89 Mich. Bar J. 42, 44 (2010).

Here are the briefs and other background materials.

Amicus Briefs Supporting Petitioner in United States v. Cooley

Here:

19-1414 Amici SiouxTribes

19-1414 Amicus Brief of NationalIndigenousWomensResourceCenter

19-1414 Indian Law Scholars Cooley Brief

19-1414 tsac Former U.S. Attorneys

19-1414 tsac Members of Congress

19-1414 tsac The Cayuga Nation

19-1414 Ute Amici Brief

Final NCAI-Tribal Governments Amici Brief-US v Cooley 1-15-21

Other Cooley materials are here.

United States v. Cooley Background Materials

Here are the merits briefs:

Petitioner’s Brief

Respondent Brief

Petitioner’s Reply

Here are the amicus briefs supporting petitioner:

19-1414 Amici SiouxTribes

19-1414 Amicus Brief of NationalIndigenousWomensResourceCenter

19-1414 Indian Law Scholars Cooley Brief

19-1414 tsac Former U.S. Attorneys

19-1414 tsac Members of Congress

19-1414 tsac The Cayuga Nation

19-1414 Ute Amici Brief

Final NCAI-Tribal Governments Amici Brief-US v Cooley 1-15-21

Here are the amicus briefs supporting respondent:

19-1414 Amici Curiae Brief Ninth Circuit Federal Defenders

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Amicus Brief

Here are the cert stage materials:

Cert Petition

NCAI Amicus Brief

NIWRC Amicus Brief

Respondent Brief in Opposition to Petition for a Writ of Certiorari

Cooley Cert Reply

Here are the Ninth Circuit materials:

Ninth Circuit opinion

US Brief

Cooley Brief

Reply

Here are the district court (D. Mont.) materials:

2 Redacted Indictment

34 Motion to Suppress

34-1 Exhibit

41 Response

41-1 Exhibit

41-2 Exhibit

46 Reply

48 DCT Order Granting Motion to Suppress

SCOTUS Grants U.S. v. Cooley

Here is the order list for today.

Here are the cert stage briefs.

Here are the lower court materials.

Cert Opposition Brief in US v. Cooley

Here:

Respondent Brief in Opposition to Petition for a Writ of Certiorari

The cert petition is here.

Amicus briefs in support of the petition are here.

NCAI/NIWRC Amicus Briefs in Support of Federal Cert Petition in U.S. v. Cooley

Here:

NCAI Amicus Brief

NIWRC Amicus Brief

Cert petition here.

United States Petitions for Cert in Case Involving Tribal Police Authority to Detain Non-Indians

Here is the cert petition in United States v. Cooley:

Cert Petition

Question presented:

Whether the lower courts erred in suppressing evidence on the theory that a police officer of an Indian tribe lacked authority to temporarily detain and search respondent, a non-Indian, on a public right-of-way within a reservation based on a potential violation of state or federal law.

Lower court materials here.

Update:

NCAI Amicus Brief

NIWRC Amicus Brief

Waiver of Response

Split Ninth Circuit Denies En Banc Petition in ICRA Search and Seizure Case

Here are the materials in United States v. Cooley:

us-en-banc-petition.pdf

response.pdf

ca9-order.pdf

Panel materials and briefs here.

Ninth Circuit Holds Exclusionary Rule Applies to Evidence Obtained in Violation of ICRA’s Fourth Amendment Counterpart

Here is the opinion in United States v. Cooley.

Briefs here.