AP Story via Huffington Post here:
Transfer of Bison to Fort Peck Meets Resistance
AP Story via Huffington Post here:
Montana
First Turtle Talk Poll Results — Oliphant Biggest Frustration
Here are the results to the first Turtle Talk poll — What federal Indian law doctrine frustrates tribal government officials the most?
In order by percentage:
Oliphant — lack of criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians — 41 percent
Montana — lack of civil jurisdiction over non-Indians — 21 percent
Mitchell/Navajo Nation — inability to sue US for trust violations — 14 percent
Atkinson Trading — limited authority to tax non-Indians — 8 percent
Sherrill — laches — 8 percent
Blatchford/Seminole Tribe — state sovereign immunity — 6 percent
ICRA’s limits on tribal court punishments — 1 percent
Roberts v. Hagener — Equal Protection Claim re: Montana State Hunting Laws
Here are the briefs in a claim pending before the Ninth Circuit that state hunting laws are violative of the equal protection clause as discrimination against non-Indians.
NYTs Article on Little Shell Band & Federal Recognition
From the NYTs:
Landless Tribe Waits Federal Recognition
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — Long after the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa was stripped of its land and scores of its people had been moved to Canada, the 4,300 surviving members are fighting to reclaim the shards of their past.
Constitutional Challenge to State Hunting & Fishing Regs in Montana in CA9
The conservative property rights litigation machine Mountain States Legal Foundation sued the State of Montana for its reservation-based hunting and fishing regs. The lower court dismissed the claim, applying the rational basis test (ala Morton v. Mancari). The Ninth Circuit has yet to rule. Here are the materials.
Tales from the Cert Pool: Montana Taxes at Crow
The Supreme Court denied cert in a case captioned Montana v. Crow Tribe of Indians, 484 U.S. 1039 (1988) (No. 87-343). The case involved the State’s attempt to impose severance and gross proceeds on a non-Indian mining company.
The cert pool memo (from a Rehnquist clerk no less) ripped the State’s argument:
[Montana]’s contention that its taxes should not be preempted because they fall on Westmoreland, rather than on the Crow Tribe itself, is ludicrous. The state severance and gross proceeds taxes have restricted the amount of taxation [Crow] can levy on its lessees. The CA9 found that the marketability of [Crow]’s coal was significantly diminished by [Montana]’s taxes, resulting in a corresponding decrease in the amount of money accruing to[Crow]’s coffers.
Cert Pool Memo at 7.
How times have changed. After Cotton Petroleum and Wagnon, states can strategically tax for the specific purpose of limiting on-reservation activities and all but eliminate tribal tax base.
Turtle Talk 