Law360: “Justices Wary Of Weakening Tribal Immunity In Property Row”
Courthouse News: “High Court Grapples With Tribe’s Sovereign Immunity“
Supreme Court
Oral Argument Transcript in Upper Skagit v. Lundgren
Harvey v. Ute Indian Tribe Cert Petition
Here:
Questions presented:
1.Whether the tribal remedies exhaustion doctrine, which requires federal courts to stay cases challenging tribal jurisdiction until the parties have exhausted parallel tribal court proceedings, applies to state courts as well.
2.Whether the tribal remedies exhaustion doctrine requires that nontribal courts yield to tribal courts when the parties have not invoked the tribal court‘s jurisdiction.
Lower court materials here.
UPDATES:
National Mining Assn v. Zinke Cert Petition [Grand Canyon Uranium Mining]
Here:
Question presented:
Can Congress’s delegation to the Department of the Interior of withdrawal authority over large tracts of land survive without the legislative veto right that Congress included as a check on the exercise of that authority?
Lower court materials here.
Update:
Osage Wind LLC v. Osage Minerals Council Cert Petition
Here:
Petition for a Writ of Certiorari
Questions presented:
1. Whether the court of appeals had jurisdiction over the appeal filed by a nonparty when the nonparty did not participate in any capacity in the district court proceedings.
2. Whether the Tenth Circuit improperly invoked the Indian canon of construction to deprive surface-estate owners who are members or successors-in-interest to Indian tribe members of important property rights by overriding clear regulatory language for the express purpose of favoring the economic interests of an Indian tribe without examining congressional intent.
Lower court materials here.
UPDATES:
NCAI Amicus Brief in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc.
Supreme Court Affirms Dismissal of Suit in Patchak v. Zinke
Opinion here.
THOMAS, J., announced the judgment of the Court and delivered an opinion, in which BREYER, ALITO, and KAGAN, JJ., joined. BREYER, J., filed a concurring opinion. GINSBURG, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which SOTOMAYOR, J., joined. SOTOMAYOR, J., filed an
opinion concurring in the judgment. ROBERTS, C. J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which KENNEDY and GORSUCH, JJ., joined.***
Petitioner, David Patchak, sued the Secretary of the
Interior for taking land into trust on behalf of an Indian
Tribe. While his suit was pending in the District Court,
Congress enacted the Gun Lake Trust Land Reaffirmation
Act (Gun Lake Act or Act), Pub. L. 113–179, 128 Stat.
1913, which provides that suits relating to the land “shall
not be filed or maintained in a Federal court and shall be
promptly dismissed.” Patchak contends that, in enacting
this statute, Congress impermissibly infringed the judicial
power that Article III of the Constitution vests exclusively
in the Judicial Branch. Because we disagree, we affirm
the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit.
Previous posts here.
Eastern Shoshone Tribe v. Wyoming Cert Petition
Here:
Question presented:
Whether Congress clearly intended in 1905 to di- minish the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, home to the Eastern Shoshone Tribe.
Lower court materials here.
UPDATE:
SCOTUS Denies Cert in ICWA and Tribal Jurisdiction Matters
Here is today’s order list. The Court denied cert in Renteria v. Superior Court & Norton v. Ute Indian Tribe.
Supreme Court Cert Stage Briefing in R.K.B. v. E.T.
As a reminder, this is the cert petition regarding the very long Utah Supreme Court decision which held there is a federal reasonableness standard for determining whether an unwed father is a parent under ICWA. That decision is here.
Another reminder–there are generally no cert stage amicus briefs filed in opposition to a cert petition. And a cert petition is just asking the Supreme Court to take the case. It doesn’t mean the Court has taken the case.
R.K.B. NCFA Amicus ISO Cert Final
R.K.B. v. E.T. FINAL AMICUS BRIEF AAAA
Turtle Talk 
You must be logged in to post a comment.