PACT Act

Top Ten Indian Law Stories of 2010

Matthew L.M. Fletcher6 Comments

Based on numbers of hits, and a nice review of the year, here is the First Top Ten Indian Law Stories of the Year:

  1. Wells Fargo v. Lake of the Torches EDC. The effort by the bank to force Lac du Flambeau to pay its obligations had been shut down by the conclusion of a federal court that the trust indenture was a gaming management contract. A Seventh Circuit appeal was briefed and argued, and is pending. Posts are here and here.
  2. Tribal Law and Order Act. Congress finally passed a piece of legislation geared at dealing with a national problem — the incredible rise of violent crime in Indian Country, and most especially violence against Indian women. Top posts are here and here.
  3. Challenges to the PACT Act. Congress’s effort to destroy what remains of Indian country tobacco sales over the internet was initially enjoined, but that injunction was lifted. The cases are now pending in the Second Circuit. Top posts here and here.
  4. Gun Lake Band Casino news. The Gun Lake Band finally began construction on its casino after more than a decade of legal challenges, only to face a difficult financing market. Posts are here and here.
  5. Bay Mills Indian Community opens casino in Vanderbilt, MI on fee land. Would probably be number 1 or 2 if it happened earlier in the year. Posts here and here.
  6. Chief Justice Roberts dissent in North Carolina v. South Carolina. Mountain out of a molehill? Maybe, but still…. Post here.
  7. Bloomberg report on Foxwoods default. Old news, but continuing to be important. Post here.
  8. Elena Kagan Appointment to Supreme Court. Plenty of speculation here on her (lack of an) Indian law record. Top posts here and here.
  9. Supreme Court 2010 October Term Preview. Here.
  10. Possible Keith Harper Appointment to Tenth Circuit. Here.

Honorable mentions include the indictment of former Sault Ste. Marie tribal official Fred Paquin; Walter Echohawk’s new book; federal court challenges to consecutive sentences by tribal courts; the Saginaw Chippewa reservation boundaries settlement, and the passing of Phil Frickey.

Update (2:30 PM): Obviously, as Alex Skibine noted in the comments section, the Cobell settlement was a huge story for the year, while probably happening too late in the year to generate enough hits to make the top ten list. Same goes for President Obama’s announcement of support for the UN DRIP.

Alabama-Coushatta Tribe Amicus Brief in Red Earth v. Holder Appeal

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here: Alabama-Coushatta Amicus Brief

Federal Government Files Reply Brief in Red Earth Challenge to PACT Act

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here: USA Reply Brief in Red Earth

Opening Briefs in Red Earth v. US — PACT Act Appeal

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

USA Brief in Red Earth

American Cancer Society Amicus Brief

Convenience Store Amicus Brief

Lower court materials here and here.

Federal Court Lifts Remainder of Injunction against Enforcement of PACT Act

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here are the updated materials (h/t Indianz):

US Motion to Stay

Seneca Free Trade Assn Motion for Injunction

US Response to Seneca Free Trade Assn

Red Earth Response to US Motion for Stay

Red Earth Response to Seneca Free Trade Assn

Order – (8-12-10)

Earlier materials are here.

Federal Court Preliminary Injunction in PACT Act Tobacco Case

Matthew L.M. Fletcher4 Comments

Here is an update in Red Earth LLC v. United States (W.D. N.Y.) (news article here, via Pechanga):

USA Opposition to Motion for PI

Order – PI (7-30-10)

The TRO materials are here.

Is the Indian Tobacco Market Dead?

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Maybe. News articles from Indianz and the NYTs.

NYTs Article on Seneca Nation’s Efforts to Oppose Federal Anti-Indian Smoke Sales Bill

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

An excerpt:

There is a relatively short list of people who like mail-order cigarettes: teenagers, adults evading sales taxes and the Seneca Nation of Indians of western New York, which dominates the national market.

Even the big tobacco companies oppose the practice, in part to stamp out the Senecas’ competition. And with the industry’s strange-bedfellow backing, a bill to block the shipment of cigarettes passed the House of Representatives last spring by a vote of 397 to 11. A Senate committee approved it unanimously last fall.

But then the Senecas, who control a gambling and cigarette empire that brings in more than $1 billion a year, began a campaign of back-room lobbying and public political threats. That now appears to have shut down the legislation and kept the tribe in the cigarette business, a case study in the power of a well-financed special interest to thwart what had seemed to be a national consensus.

“Isn’t that the way things go in the American system?” asked Richard Nephew, co-chairman of the Seneca Nation’s foreign relations committee. “It is something new for us to actively get involved in the American political process,” he said. “But we are trying to learn what works in America, and I guess making political contributions is something that works.”

As recently as December, a ban on mail-order cigarettes called the PACT Act — for Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking — looked all but certain to become law. After the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the House measure, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, prepared the bill for passage on the floor. No senator has publicly opposed the legislation.

But at the last minute, two or three Democratic senators told party leaders privately that they might block the bill, according to senior Senate Democratic aides. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.