This is a tribal court exhaustion case out of the Ninth Circuit (with Judge Canby sitting on the panel):
Ninth Circuit
EEOC v. Peabody Coal & Navajo Nation — CA9 Materials
This long-running case involves the Navajo tribal preference statute. The district court dismissed the claim under Rule 19 (one of my faves!). Here are the Ninth Circuit materials:
Audio of Ninth Circuit Oral Argument in Snowbowl Case
Burlington Northern v. Vaughn (CA9) Materials
BNSF v. Vaughn involves the Hualapai tribe’s attempt to impose taxes on BNSF railroad. BNSF brought an Ex parte Young action against two tribal officials: the chairman and the tax collector, seeking an injunction. The tribe argued that the railroad was required to exhaust its tribal remedies and that the tribe and its officials hadn’t waived tribal immunity. The district court disagreed. Here, the Ninth Circuit held that the tribe could bring an interlocutory appeal of the rejection of the immunity defense, but held that the tax collector was not immune from suit and remanded for further proceedings.
Here are the materials:
Bressi v. Ford — Civil Rights Complaint Against Tohono O’odham Law Enforcement
This case, now in the Ninth Circuit, presents an interesting question of whether tribal officers sued under Section 1983 are immune from suit under the tribal sovereign immunity doctrine. The district court held that the officers were immune because they acted under color of tribal law, not state law.
Here are the materials (so far):
Ninth Circuit Decides IHS Reimbursement Case — Updated
Here are the materials for Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System v. McClellan, decided by the Ninth Circuit.
Here are the materials:
Philip Morris v. King Mountain — Tribal Court Exhaustion in 9th Circuit
This case, involving the tribal court exhaustion doctrine, was argued before the Ninth Circuit in May 2007 before Brunetti, McKeown, and William Fletcher. A parallel case is ongoing in the Yakama tribal court.
Here are the materials:
Alaska Wilderness League v. Kempthorne
Some of the materials in the case being argued today before the Ninth Circuit as discussed in the NYTs today (see our previous post) are here:
United States v. Mitchell — Death Penalty Case at Navajo
Recently, the Ninth Circuit decided a federal death penalty case arising out the Navajo Nation. The Court rejected an argument that the Navajo Nation hadn’t opted into the death penalty in accordance with the Major Crimes Act on the theory that the federal statute at issue was a different one. In short, the Court ignored tribal sovereignty.
Alvarado v. Table Mountain Rancheria (9th Cir.) Materials
Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of claims by a class represented by Pearl Alvarado that they are entitled to membership in the Table Mountain Rancheria. The Ninth Circuit did not address the tribe’s claim of sovereign immunity, but instead ruled that the plaintiffs failed to establish subject matter jurisdiction.
Turtle Talk 
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