Indian smokeshops

Opinion in United States v. Morrison

Kate Fort

We posted about the lower court decision here.

Of the many arguments that the parties have raised, only two warrant extended 11 discussion. The first is the government’s contention that the district court erred in vacating Morrison’s conspiracy conviction on the ground of vagueness. The second is Morrison’s claim that the CCTA was inapplicable to him given New York’s “forbearance policy,” under which the State refrained from collecting taxes on cigarette sales transacted on Native American reservations. According to Morrison, this forbearance policy barred his conviction under the CCTA because that statute provides that, in order for a federal prosecution to lie, the state in which the allegedly contraband cigarettes are found must “require” tax stamps to be placed on  cigarettes. We reverse the district court’s order vacating Morrison’s RICO conspiracy conviction and reject all of Morrison’s challenges to his convictions.

Opinion

Appellant/Government’s Brief
Defendant/Appellee Brief
Government’s Response & Reply Brief
Appellee Reply Brief

Tenth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Muscogee (Creek) Tax Case under Eleventh Amendment

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the opinion in Muscogee (Creek) Nation v. Oklahoma Tax Commission.

Briefs are here.

Lower court materials here.

One Federal Criminal Count Dismissed Against Indian Smokeshop Supplier…

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

As a result of the Second Circuit’s recent Golden Feather decision.

Here are the materials in United States v. Morrison (previous post here):

Motion for Reconsideration

DCT Order Dismissing Count Two

An excerpt:

Based on the Second Circuit’s March 4, 2010 decision in City of New York v. Golden Feather Smoke Shop, Inc., 597 F.3d 115 (2d Cir. 2010), I have reconsidered, and changed my earlier determinations that defendant’s motions to dismiss Count Two on substantive due process grounds lacked merit. As a result, the conviction under Count Two is vacated, and the Count is dismissed.

CA9 Decides Philip Morris v. King Mountain Tobacco

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here is the opinion from the Ninth Circuit denying that a colorable claim to tribal court jurisdiction existed in this trademark violation issue. And here are the briefs:

philip-morris-opening-brief

king-mountain-response-brief

philip-morris-reply-brief

NYTs Article on Poospatuck Cigarette Sales

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the NYTs:

MASTIC, N.Y. — Down by the lapping waters of Great South Bay, the Indian chief stared up at the trees swaying in the wind. Then he squinted: Was that a surveillance camera on top of that utility pole?

Probably not, but Harry Wallace, chief of the Unkechaug Nation, says he has good reason to be watching his back — and his tribe’s — closely.

He and several other owners of shops that sell cigarettes on the tiny Poospatuck reservation on the South Shore of Long Island, where the Unkechaugs are based, have been sued by the City of New York. The city claims that this Indian enclave — the closest reservation to New York City — has become a “tax evasion haven” and a drain on the city’s coffers.

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NYTs on NYC v. Poospatuck Smokeshops

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the NYTs:

Bootleg cigarette traffic from Long Island’s tiny Poospatuck reservation to New York City is brisk, so much so that some cigarette dealers on the reservation don’t even bother to set up storefronts, according to a motion filed in federal court on Tuesday.

Instead, the dealers take telephone orders for bulk shipments of untaxed cigarettes. Millions of them are delivered to the city by van and distributed through an underground network that dramatically undercuts tax collection, the city alleged.

The Bloomberg administration asked a federal judge in Brooklyn to bar the reservation’s eight largest dealers from selling untaxed cigarettes to the public. Those dealers, named as defendants in a federal lawsuit filed by the city last month, control 95 percent of the sales on the reservation, the city said.

Officials estimate that untaxed cigarette sales by the eight dealers have cut city revenues by nearly $195 million a year, an amount the city can ill afford during a financial crisis. In addition, bootleg cigarette traffic undermines a Bloomberg administration anti-smoking campaign.

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