States’ Cert Petition in Navajo Nation Water Rights Case

Here is the petition in Arizona v. Navajo Nation:

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 *ii manage the mainstream of the LBCR so as not to interfere with that plan, infringe upon this Court’s retained 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.

Ninth Circuit Decides CFPB v. CashCall

Here. An excerpt:

CashCall, Inc., made unsecured, high-interest loans to consumers throughout the country. After attracting unwanted attention from regulators, it sought to avoid state usury and licensing laws by using an entity operating on an Indian reservation. CashCall paid for that entity to issue loans and then purchased the loans days later. The loan agreements contained a choice-of-law provision calling for the application of tribal law, so they would not be subject to the law of borrowers’ home States, which would have prohibited the loans. CashCall sought advice from a scholar of federal Indian law, who opined that the scheme “should work but likely won’t.” His concern proved well founded. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau brought this action against CashCall, its CEO, and several affiliated companies, alleging that the scheme was an “unfair, deceptive, or abusive act or practice,” 12 U.S.C. § 5536(a)(1)(B), because CashCall demanded payment from consumers under the pretense that the loans were legally enforceable obligations, when in fact they were invalid under state law. The district court found the defendants liable and imposed a civil penalty of $10.3 million, but the court declined to order restitution.

Briefs here.

Ninth Circuit Decides Unite Here Local 30 v. Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay Indians

Here.

Briefs here.

Ninth Circuit Briefs in Spokane Tribe v. Sulgrove [Chamokane Creek water rights]

Here:

Chamokane Creek mission dedication, c. Long time ago

Alaska Federal Court Denies Rule 19 Motion in Tribal Health Care Case

Here are the materials in Southcentral Foundation v. Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (D. Alaska), on remand from the Ninth Circuit (materials here):

296 ANTHC Rule 19 Motion

302 Response

308-1 Amicus Brief

310 Reply

316 Southcentral Motion for Summary

317 Response

322 Reply

Rule 19 doesn’t work well when it’s dark outside. . . .

Ninth Circuit Briefs in Engasser v. Tetra Tech Inc. [Mechoopda Cultural Resource Preservation Enterprise]

Here:

Lower court materials here.

Butte County Camp Fire of 2018, or the Flames of Tribal Sovereign Immunity?

Snoqualmie v. Washington Cert Petition

Here:

Questions presented:

  1. Whether the federal courts have the constitutional authority to unilaterally abrogate all rights guaranteed to an Indian tribe under a treaty with the United States absent congressional action.
  2. Whether the Ninth Circuit erred by applying issue preclusion to hold that Snoqualmie was not a party to the Treaty even though the Executive Branch expressly recognizes Snoqualmie as a Treaty party.

Lower court materials here.

Amicus briefs in support of the petition:

Ninth Circuit Approves Land Exchange over Enviros’ Objections to Allow King Cove Corp. to Build a Road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge

Here is the opinion in Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges v. Haaland.

Izembek National Wildlife Refuge

Anchorage Daily News coverage.

Briefs:

City of Cold Bay and that dangerous airport

Ninth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Havasupai Students’ Claims against BIE School

Here is the unpublished opinion in Stephen C. v. Bureau of Indian Education:

Briefs here.

Ninth Circuit Affirms Crow Jurisdiction over Utility

Here is the unpublished opinion in Big Horn County Electric Cooperative v. Big Man.

Briefs here.

Lower court materials here.

Crow Fair, Crow Agency, Montana: processions and regalia, 1979