Supreme Court – Page 117

ICT Article on Local Support for Gun Lake Casino

October 4, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the article (h/t Pechanga). And an excerpt:

More than 15 entities, including Wayland Township, Allegan County, the Allegan Area Education Service Agency, the cities of Wayland and Allegan, the Barry County Chamber of Commerce, the Barry County Economic Development Alliance, the Gun Lake Business Association, and the Deputy Sheriff’s Association of Michigan have filed a collective amici curiae – friend of the court – brief in the petition for certiorari filed with the high court by the Interior Department and the Match-E-Nash-E-Wish Band of Pottawatomi (the Gun Lake Tribe) Indians versus David Patchak. The high court has been asked to review a ruling issued by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals last January that said Patchak, a former trustee in Wayland County, Michigan, has standing to bring a lawsuit against the Interior Department for taking into trust 147 acres in Bradley, Michigan, near Grand Rapids where the tribe operates its casino. The casino, which opened in February, created 900 new jobs and has brought a new wave of prosperity to local hotels, restaurants, vendors and other businesses in an area that had a reported 11.9 percent unemployment rate.

“Collectively, the amici curiae represent numerous individuals and businesses that support and have been positively affected by the Band’s economic development activities on the trust land. They submit this brief to explain the substantial local benefits that arise from the cooperative and mutually reinforcing economic development efforts of the Band, the regional governments, and local businesses,” the amici wrote. “The amici curiae urge this Court to grant the petitions for certiorari to resolve the debilitating uncertainty and economic instability created by the court of appeals’ decision, which threatens to stifle economic development in a state and region that has endured a disproportionate amount of economic suffering in recent years.”

Andrew Cohen: Turtle Talk SCT Preview in the Top 10

October 3, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here:

It’s the last Friday in September, just hours before the first Monday in October, which means you cannot swing a cat without hitting a preview of the coming Supreme Court term. I wrote one earlier this week. My esteemed colleague here at The Atlantic, Garrett Epps, wrote a really good oneyesterday. And all throughout the universe of law and journalism, women and men of good cheer and business suits are chiming in from behind water glasses and paper name-cards to help explore and explain what the nine justices will be pondering over the next nine months.

Because I know you’ll itch to have something meaty to absorb while you are watching the start of the playoffs in baseball, or the excellent college football games Saturday afternoon, or the even better professional football games on Sunday, I figured I would save you the trouble of scouring through the InterWeb to find the best Supreme Court previews out there. My list of 10 is by no means complete. But it’s a good start and I hope you’ll feel free in the comments to suggest other previews which are worthwhile.

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6. Regular readers of this space know that I try when I can to raise attention to Indian law issues, which almost never get the mainstream attention they often deserve. Here then fromTurtle Talk is a straightforward preview of the cases the justices could accept for review this term. Unfortunately, the High Court has a shameful record of blowing off Native American interests in the certiorari process.

NCAI Cert Stage Amicus Brief in Patchak Case

October 3, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

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NYTs Supreme Court Preview

October 1, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here
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Details on Justice Sotomayor’s Visit to UNM Law and Jemez Pueblo

October 1, 2011September 30, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Local Units of Government and Business Groups File Amicus in Favor of Cert Petition in Gun Lake/Salazar v. Patchak

September 28, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here:

Wayland Twp Amicus Brief

See, I wasn’t joking when I said this here:

“Wayland and its surrounding townships long have hoped for more industry and economic growth – I know, I grew up there. So it’s just one guy for all we know who doesn’t want that. He’s pretty firmly in a tiny minority,” Fletcher said.

Tax Protesters Petition Opposing Native Hawaiians is SCOTUSBlog Petition of the Day

September 28, 2011September 28, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

Seems odd to me, but maybe SCOTUSblog thinks of the Native Hawaiians and the State of Hawaii as a disfavored party in the Supreme Court.

Here:

Corboy v. Louie

Docket: 11-336
Issue(s): (1) Whether petitioners have standing to seek a refund of their own taxes; and (2) whether the Equal Protection Clause precludes a state or municipality from creating tax exemptions that are available only to members of a certain race.

Certiorari stage documents:

Opinion below (Haw.)

Petition for certiorari

Jeffrey Fisher on A Supreme Court Clinic’s Place in the Supreme Court Bar

September 27, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Jeffrey Fisher has posted his paper, “A Supreme Court Clinic’s Place in the Supreme Court Bar” on SSRN. His clinic at Stanford had assisted the Navajo Nation and other tribes in filing a cert petition in Navajo Nation v. USFS, the San Francisco Peaks case.