Ninth Circuit

Ninth Circuit Briefs in Maverick Gaming Appeal [updated with oral argument video]

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the briefs in Maverick Gaming LLC v. United States:

Maverick Opening Brief.pdfDownload
US Brief.pdfDownload
Shoalwater Bay Brief.pdfDownload
Washington Brief.pdfDownload
Tribal Amicus Brief.pdfDownload

Lower court materials here and here.

Ninth Circuit Rejects Lummi’s U&A Fishing Claims

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in Swinomish Indian Community v. Lummi Nation.

Briefs here. Lower court materials here.

Lexington Insurance Co. v. Smith [Suquamish] Ninth Circuit Oral Argument Video

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Briefs here.

Ninth Circuit Affirms No Casino in Plymouth v. NIGC [Ione Band]

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the unpublished opinion.

Briefs:

Opening Brief.pdfDownload
NIGC Answer Brief.pdfDownload
Reply.pdfDownload

Lower court materials here.

Ninth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Pro Se ICRA Suit Brought by Terminated Employee

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the unpublished opinion in Villasenor v. Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians.

The tribe’s brief:

Tribe Answer Brief.pdfDownload

Ninth Circuit Rejects Effort to Stop Lithium Mine in Nevada

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the unpublished opinion in Western Watersheds Project v. McCullough. And same for the Bartell Ranch/Burns Paiute case.

Selected briefs:

Burns Paiute Brief.PDFDownload
Western Watersheds Brief.PDFDownload
BLM Brief.PDFDownload

Lower court materials here.

Split Ninth Circuit Panel Rejects Klamath Irrigation District’s Forum Shopping Efforts Designed to Thwart Bureau of Reclamation’s Release of Water for Tribal Purposes

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in In re Klamath Irrigation District:

Opinion

Petition for Writ of Mandamus.pdfDownload
BOR Response.pdfDownload

Ninth Circuit Briefs in Constitutional Challenge to MCA as Unjustified Racial Classification

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the briefs in United States v. Gordon:

Gordon Opening Brief.pdfDownload

Ok, so there’s only that brief so far. Also, since the defendant stipulated to tribal membership with Nez Perce, I doubt this has legs, but it’s the kind of full-throated attack on the Indian status cases arising under the Indian country criminal jurisdiction statutes that we should expect more regularly — i.e., the kind that relies a LOT on single-authored concurrences and dissents from a certain SCT Justice that tends to rely on discredited historical research.

Here’s the lower court judgment (nothing terribly helpful here since the defendant stipulated to tribal membership):

DCT Docket No. 85 — Judgment.pdfDownload
Miigwetch, Onion people!

Klamath Irrigation District v. Bureau of Reclamation Cert Petition [Rule 19 & Tribal Immunity]

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Klamath Irrigation District Cert Petition.pdfDownload

Question presented:

Whether Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 19 requires dismissal of an action challenging a federal agency’s use of water subject to state-adjudicated water rights if a Native American tribe asserts an interest in the suit and does not consent to joinder.

Lower court materials here.

Jaune Smith

Ninth Circuit Rules against Sauk-Suiatte in U&A Matter

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in Upper Skagit Indian Tribe v. Sauk-Suiatte Indian Tribe.

Briefs and so on here.

Jaune Smith — it’s as if I took a lot of close-up shots at a Whitney exhibition of her work. . . .