Here is the opinion:
Briefs are here.
Here are the briefs:
Lower court materials here.
Here is the opinion in Ute Indian Tribe v. State of Utah:
An excerpt:
In our layered system of trial and appellate courts everyone’s assured at least two chances to air a grievance. Add to this the possibility that a lawsuit might bounce back to the trial court on remand or even rebound its way to appeal yet again — or the possibility that an issue might win interlocutory review — and the opportunities to press a complaint grow abundantly. No doubt our complex and consuming litigation wringer has assumed the shape it has so courts might squeeze as much truth as possible out of the parties’ competing narratives. But sooner or later every case must come to an end. After all, that’s why people bring their disputes to court in the first place: because the legal system promises to resolve their differences without resort to violence and supply “peace and repose” at the end of it all. S. Pac. R.R. Co. v. United States, 168 U.S. 1, 49 (1897). For a legal system to meet this promise, of course, both sides must accept — or, if need be, they must be made to respect — the judgments it generates. Most people know and readily assent to all this. So it’s pretty surprising when a State and several of its counties need a reminder. But that’s what this appeal is all about.
And:
A system of law that places any value on finality — as any system of law worth its salt must — cannot allow intransigent litigants to challenge settled decisions year after year, decade after decade, until they wear everyone else out. Even — or perhaps especially — when those intransigent litigants turn out to be public officials, for surely those charged with enforcing the law should know this much already. Though we are mindful of the importance of comity and cooperative federalism and keenly sensitive to our duty to provide appropriate respect for and deference to state proceedings, we are equally aware of our obligation to defend the law’s promise of finality. And the case for finality here is overwhelming. The defendants may fervently believe that Ute V drew the wrong boundaries, but that case was resolved nearly twenty years ago, the Supreme Court declined to disturb its judgment, and the time has long since come for the parties to accept it.
Briefs here.
Here:
Petition for a Writ of Certiorari (as filed)
Question presented:
Does Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community, 134 S.Ct. 2024 (2014), require the dismissal of a State’s suit to prevent tribal officers from conducting gaming that would be unlawful under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and a state-tribal compact when
• the suit for declaratory and injunctive relief has been brought against tribal officials – not the tribe;• the gaming will occur in Indian country, on the land of another tribe; and
• the state-tribal compact’s arbitration provision does not require arbitration before filing suit?
Lower court materials here.
Here are the relevant materials submitted in Ute Indian Tribe v. State of Utah (D. Utah):
271 Ute Motion to Dismiss Counterclaim
294 Duschene Cty Opposition to Motion to Dismiss
306 Ute Reply in Support of Motion to Dismiss
470 Duschene Cty Response to Motion for Summary J
481 DCT Order on Motion to Dismiss
The order:
At a hearing on January 10, 2013, with all parties present, this matter came before the Court on a Rule 12(b) motion filed by the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, Dkt. 271, to dismiss the counterclaims filed by Duchesne County, Dkt. 239. The Court, having considered the parties’ briefs and oral arguments, rules that Count 1 of the counter-complaint is dismissed with leave to Duchesne County to file an amended pleading within 20 days; the racketeering claims under Count 2 are dismissed for being facially deficient and failing to state a cause of action; and the Court denies the motion to dismiss the remaining claims under Counts 2 through 5 of the counterclaim.
My sense is that Judge Jenkins is waiting for the Tenth Circuit to decide other matters to make a decision on the tribe’s motion for summary judgment on Duchesne County’s counterclaim. That appeal involves the tribe’s claim that the state and counties are illegally prosecuting tribal members under state law.
In the motion for summary judgment, the tribe is arguing that Article III courts have no jurisdiction, or in the alternative the county must first exhaust tribal remedies.
Here. Like its earlier decision, today’s amended opinion concludes that the district court erroneously granted the State’s request for a preliminary injunction and held that the State’s complaint, which alleged class III gaming activities on non-Indian lands, failed to state a claim under IGRA.
The Tenth Circuit also reiterated that arbitration provisions in the state’s gaming compact effectively barred Oklahoma from suing tribal officials in federal court for purported violations of the compact. The court remanded the matter to the Northern District of Oklahoma with instructions to vacate the preliminary injunction and to dismiss Oklahoma’s complaint with prejudice.
Also, the court denied the petition for en banc review.
Panel materials are here.
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