Ninth Circuit – Page 40

A tribal law enforcement officer conducted a welfare check on Cooley, who had pulled over on a public highway where it crosses the Crow Reservation. It appeared to the officer that he was dealing with a non-Indian person. Soon thereafter, the encounter raised suspicion that Cooley was impaired and trafficking drugs and guns. He was detained and transferred to state custody. The district court suppressed the evidence from the stop based on a new Fourth Amendment test it derived from a tribal roadblock case. The district court held that the detention of Cooley and search of his vehicle violated the Fourth Amendment because, at the time the tribal officer realized Cooley was a non-Indian, it was not obvious that a state or federal crime had occurred. This new obviousness standard, the court held, is “notably higher” than probable cause.

Ninth Circuit Briefs in Gila River Indian Community v. Dept. of Veterans Affairs

July 14, 2017August 15, 2018Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Doc 10 – Opening Brief

Doc 11 – Excerpts of Records

Answer Brief

Reply Brief

Ninth Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity for BIA Officers Who Arrested Non-Indian Pursuant to Tribal Court Bench Warrant

July 12, 2017July 12, 2017Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the unpublished memorandum in Roberts v. Elliott (In re Roberts Litigation).

An excerpt:

The Supreme Court has not addressed the interaction between Oliphant’s rejection of inherent criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians and a non-Indian’s ability to waive the question of personal jurisdiction before the tribal court in criminal matters. The extent to which a non-Indian may consent to tribal jurisdiction is not settled law. Smith v. Salish Kootenai Coll., 434 F.3d 1127, 1136–40 (9th Cir. 2006) (en banc) (discussing non-tribal member consent to jurisdiction in civil suits).

Briefs:

Appellant Brief

Appellee Brief

Reply Brief

Ninth Circuit Remands False Claims Act Matter

July 10, 2017Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the opinion in United States ex rel. Cain v. Salish Kootenai College.

Materials here.

Ninth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Crow Allottees Challenge to Water Compact

July 7, 2017Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the order in Crow Allottees Assn. v. Bureau of Indian Affairs:

Crow Allottees Memorandum Opinion

Briefs:

Opening Brief

Federal Answer Brief

Lower court materials here.

Split Ninth Circuit Panel Finds Colorable Navajo Labor Commission Jurisdiction over Window Rock School District

June 28, 2017Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here is the opinion in Window Rock School District v. Nez.

An excerpt from the court’s syllabus:

The panel held that it was “colorable or plausible” that the tribal adjudicative forum, the Navajo Nation Labor Commission, had jurisdiction because the claims arose from conduct on tribal land over which the Navajo Nation had the right to exclude nonmembers, and the claims implicated no state criminal law enforcement interests. Well-established exhaustion principles therefore required that the tribal forum have the first opportunity to evaluate its own jurisdiction, including the nature of the state and tribal interests involved.

Briefs and lower court materials here.