Ninth Circuit – Page 13

Cert Petition in Big Horn County Electric Cooperative Inc. v. Big Man

July 27, 2022November 28, 2022Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Question presented:

Whether an Indian tribal court has subject-matter jurisdiction to adjudicate a tribally created claim as an “other means” of regulating a nonmember federally funded and federally regulated electric cooperative tasked with providing electrical service to all customers within its service territory, including tribal members on Indian reservations?

Lower court materials here.

Update:

Big Man Brief in Opposition.pdf Download

Reply.pdf Download

Alaska Federal Court Rules in Favor of Southcentral Foundation in Dispute with Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

July 22, 2022Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the final order in Southcentral Foundation v. Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (D. Alaska):

352 DCT Order.pdf Download

Prior post here. Long running case, so case tag here.

Dept. of Justice [almost certainly over Interior’s objections] and Arizona File Cert Petitions in Navajo Nation Water Rights Trust Suit

July 18, 2022July 18, 2022Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the petition in Dept. of the Interior v. Navajo Nation:

US Cert Petition.pdf Download

Question presented:

Whether the federal government owes the Navajo Nation an affirmative, judicially enforceable fiduciary duty to assess and address the Navajo Nation’s need for water from particular sources, in the absence of any substantive source of law that expressly establishes such a duty.

Here is the petition and the partial acquiescence by Justice in Arizona v. Navajo Nation:

Arizona v. Navajo Nation Cert Petition.pdf Download

US Response — Arizona v. Navajo Nation.pdf Download

Questions presented:

I. Does the Ninth Circuit Opinion, allowing the Nation to proceed with a claim to enjoin the Secretary to develop a plan to meet the Nation’s water needs and manage the mainstream of the LBCR so as not to in- terfere with that plan, infringe upon this Court’s re- tained and exclusive jurisdiction over the allocation of water from the LBCR mainstream in Arizona v. California?
II. Can the Nation state a cognizable claim for breach of trust consistent with this Court’s holding in Jicarilla based solely on unquantified implied rights to water under the Winters Doctrine?

Lower court materials here.