smokeshops

New York Federal Court Dismisses Third Party Claims against Cayuga and Clint Halftown [except for recoupment] in Smoke Shop Dispute

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the updated materials in Cayuga Nation v. Parker (N.D. N.Y.):

64 Meyer Third Party Complaint.pdfDownload
65 Parker Third Party Complaint.pdfDownload
75-1 Tribe Motion to Dismiss Third Party Claims.pdfDownload
76-1 Halftown Motion to Dismiss Third Party Claims.pdfDownload
77 Parker Response.pdfDownload
78 Meyer Response.pdfDownload
79 Tribe Reply.pdfDownload
81 Meyer Opposition.pdfDownload
82 Tribe Reply.pdfDownload
86 DCT Order.pdfDownload

Prior post here.

New York Federal Court Declines to Enjoin Smoke Shops at Cayuga

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the order in Cayuga Nation v. Parker (N.D. N.Y.):

59 DCT Order.pdfDownload
Akwesasne Notes, 1986

Prior post here.

New York Federal Court Orders Tribal Exhaustion in Smoke Shop Dispute at Cayuga

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Cayuga Nation v. Parker (N.D. N.Y.):

Reprinted in Akwesasne Notes, 1970

1 Complaint

2-3 Motion for Injunction

30 Parker Opposition

30-4 Legal Opinion

31 Meyer Opposition

34-1 Parker Motion to Dismiss

35-1 Meyer Motion to Dismiss

37 Reply in Support of 2

40 Opposition to Motions to Dismiss

44 Meyer Reply

45 Parker Reply

45-2 Cayuga Civil Court Order

47-1 Cayuga Civil Court Amended Complaint

49-dct-orderDownload

NYTs on Indian-Manufactured Cigarettes

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Excerpt:

Inside, employees of the Oneida Indian Nation dump the shredded tobacco leaves into rolling machines and fashion them into cigarettes to be sold at a dozen tribal convenience stores midway between Syracuse and Utica.

The cigarettes, branded with names like Niagara’s and Bishop, sell for as little as $39.95 for a 10-pack carton — much cheaper than those at non-Indian retailers — and bring in millions of dollars a year to the tribe, which also has a resort casino, five golf courses and a multimedia production house.

“We tried poverty for 200 years,” the Oneidas’ leader, Ray Halbritter, said in an interview. “We decided to try something different.”

Thanks to T.W.

U.S. v. Morrison — Federal Convictions for Contraband Cigarette Sales

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

The US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York indicted “reservation retailers” for violations of the Contraband Cigarettes Trafficking Act and of RICO. The defendants moved to dismiss the RICO charge. Here is the opinion denying the motion — us-v-morrison-dct-order

Motion for Reconsideration Denied in Milhelm Attea Case

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion denying the motion for reconsideration — milhelm-attea-dct-order

Here are the earlier materials.

City of New York v. Golden Feather et al. Complaint

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the complaint filed this week in the City of New York’s attempt to extract taxes from Poospatuck Indian Country.

nyc-v-golden-feather-complaint

Thanks to T.

NYTs: Poospatuck Smokeshops Sued by NYC

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From the NYTs:

Plunging headfirst into a delicate issue that has long bedeviled New York State and Long Island’s Indian tribes, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg criticized Gov. David A. Paterson on Monday for not enforcing cigarette tax laws, which the mayor estimated had deprived the city of up to $195 million a year in revenue.

Residents of Indian reservations — like the 50-acre Poospatuck reservation in Mastic — are entitled to buy cigarettes tax free for their own use.

But in a federal lawsuit filed on Monday, the Bloomberg administration accused eight stores on the reservation in Suffolk County of breaking state and federal law by selling cigarettes in bulk to bootleggers. The bootleggers, the lawsuit said, then shipped the cigarettes into the city.

Continue reading →

Yakama v. Gregoire TRO Against State Tax Law Enforcement

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The Eastern District of Washington issued a TRO at the behest of the Yakama Indian Nation preventing the State of Washington from enforcing its tobacco tax laws against the Nation on Sept. 12. Here are the materials:

yakama-complaint

yakama-brief

TRO

Collecting State Taxes in Indian Country

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

As usual, there is interest in New York in collecting taxes likely owed in accordance with the Milhelm Attea case (see article here). The St. Regis Mohawk leadership, however, suggests:

“This bill, like similar legislation proposed before it, will harm the Northern New York economy, not help it,” said Chief James W. Ransom, citing a 2003 study performed by Regional Economic Models Inc. “The economic impact could be greater than $2 million per year.”

“We already collect fees from tribal businesses that would be harmed by this legislation and that will hurt our ability to deliver essential governmental services,” said Chief Barbara A. Lazore. “It will also result in a loss of jobs that no one in the state is even considering.”

This is the problem that Supreme Court Indian tax cases have created. Indian tribes and Indian people try to develop their economies and tax base, and the state can — at any time it wishes — destroy that economy merely by imposing taxes.