Native Village of Kivalina v. ExxonMobile Cert Petition

Here:

Native Village of Kivalina Cert Petition

Question presented:

Petitioners Native Village of Kivalina and the City of Kivalina, a federally-recognized tribe and an Alaskan municipality, are the governing bodies of an Inupiat village located on an Arctic barrier island that is being destroyed by global warming. Greenhouse gases have caused the Earth’s temperature to rise, especially in the Arctic, which has melted the land-fast sea ice that protects the village from powerful oceanic storms. Kivalina is thus now exposed to erosion and flooding from the sea and must relocate or face imminent destruction.

Petitioners seek damages — not injunctive relief–from the largest U.S. sources of greenhouses gases under the federal common law of public nuisance. In American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut (“AEP”), 131 S. Ct. 2527 (2011), the Court dismissed a federal common law claim for injunctive relief, holding that the Clean Air Act displaces “any federal common law right to seek abatement” of emissions because the Clean Air Act “provides a means to seek limits on emissions [2]  of carbon dioxide from domestic power plants — the same relief the plaintiffs seek by invoking federal common law.” AEP, 131 S. Ct. at 2537, 2538 (emphasis added).

The question presented is: Whether the Clean Air Act, which provides no damages remedy to persons harmed by greenhouse gas emissions, displaces federal common-law claims for damages.

Lower court materials here.

Table Mountain Rancheria Prevails In Membership Dispute Before The Ninth Circuit

Materials in Lewis v. Salazar here:

12 – Appellants’ Opening Brief

24 – Secretary Salazar’s Answering Brief

26 – Tribal Defendants Answering Brief

34.2 – Appellants Corrected Reply Brief

52.1 – Memorandum Opinion

Ninth Circuit Briefs in Dispute between “Advantage Gamblers” and Tonto Apache Tribal Casino

Here are the materials in Pistor v. Garcia:

DCT Order Denying Motion to Dismiss (D. Ariz.)

Garcia Opening Brief

Pistor Answering Brief

Garcia Reply

From the trial court order (Judge Martone):

Plaintiffs, non-Indians, describe themselves as advantage gamblers. All three gambled at the Mazatzal Hotel & Casino (“Mazatzal”) in Payson, Arizona, which is owned and operated by the Tonto Apache Tribe (“the Tribe”) and is located on tribal land. Plaintiffs each won a substantial amount of money playing some of Mazatzal’s video blackjack machines. Moving defendants are all employed by the Tribe. Hoosava is the General Manager of Mazatzal. Kaiser is employed by the Tribe as a Tribal Gaming Office Inspector. Garcia is employed by the Tribe as Chief of the Tonto Apache Police Department. On October 25, 2011, plaintiffs allege that they were seized while inside Mazatzal. Pistor and Abel were handcuffed, and all three plaintiffs were brought to private rooms and questioned. Plaintiffs were eventually released and were not charged with any crime. Defendants seized thousands of dollars in cash and casino cash redemption tickets from plaintiffs. The property has not yet been returned.

Ninth Circuit Rejects Another Challenge to Colville Tax Agreement

Here are the materials in Tonasket v. Sargent:

CA9 Unpublished Opinion

Tonasket Opening Brief

Colville Answer Brief

Tonasket Reply

Lower court materials here.

The Ninth Circuit recently decided a related appeal here.

Update in Wandering Medicine v. McCulloch — Ninth Circuit Materials (so far) in Montana Voting Rights Case

Here:

Appellants Opposition to Motion

Appellees Motion to Dismiss Appeal

CA9 Order on Motion to Dismiss

News coverage here.

Lower court materials here.

Cert Stage Briefing Complete in New 49er’s v. Karuk Tribe

Here, from SCOTUSblog. The case is set for Conference on March 15, 2013.

Lower court materials here (case formerly captioned as Karuk Tribe of California v. USFS). Previous post here.

Thurston County Response to Chehalis Request for Judicial Notice of Federal Leasing Regs

Here:

Thurtson County Response to Motion for Judicial Notice

The motion is here.

Ninth Circuit Oral Argument Audio in Tohono O’odham Nation v. City of Glendale

Here.

News coverage via Pechanga.

Briefs here.

Shingle Springs Finally Wins Permanent Injunction against Man Claiming to be “Chief”

Amazing story. Cribbing from another’s description of the case:

Just after news broke that Tribe’s Red Hawk Casino was about to open several years ago, Cesar Caballero began his campaign to usurp the Tribe’s established identity. There are many fascinating twist and turns to this story, including Mr. Caballero’s conviction for obstruction of mail after submitting a fraudulent change of address form to have the Tribe’s mail diverted to his address. Earlier in the case (a few years back) he filed unsuccessful counterclaims seeking relief for alleged violation of his trademarks and challenging the Tribe’s status. The court dismissed the counterclaims with prejudice.

Here are the materials:

220 – Third Amended Complaint

236.1 – MPA re Summary Judgment Motion

258 – Caballero Response to Summary Judgment Motion

259 – Order Granting Summary Judgment And Entering Permanent Injunction

Chehalis Asks Ninth Circuit to Take Judicial Notice of New Interior Regulations re: Taxability of Trust Land Improvements

Here is the motion in Confederated Chehalis Tribes v. Thurston County Board of Equalization:

Chehalis Motion to Take Judicial Notice

The federal regs are here. 25 CFR 162.017 reads:

Subject only to applicable Federal law, permanent improvements on the leased land, without regard to ownership of those improvements, are not subject to any fee, tax, assessment, levy or other charge imposed by any State or political subdivision of a  State. Improvements may be subject to taxation by the Indian tribe with jurisdiction.

Briefs are here. Lower court materials here.