Ninth Circuit Rules against Grand Canyon Skywalk Challenge to Hualapai Tribal Court Jurisdiction

Here.

From the court’s syllabus:

Affirming the district court’s judgment in an action concerning a dispute over a revenue-sharing contract between a Nevada corporation and a tribally chartered corporation of the Hualapai Indian Tribe for the building and operation of the Grand Canyon Skywalk, the panel held that the Nevada corporation must exhaust tribal court remedies before proceeding in federal court on its claims challenging the Tribe’s authority to condemn its intangible property rights in the contract.

The panel concluded that the bad faith and futility exceptions to the exhaustion requirement did not apply. It held that where a tribal court has asserted jurisdiction and is entertaining a suit, the tribal court must have acted in bad faith for exhaustion to be excused; bad faith by a litigant instituting the tribal court action will not suffice. The panel held that the submitted evidence did not establish that the tribal court operated in bad faith or was controlled by the tribal council in its decision making. The panel also affirmed the district court’s conclusion that the evidence did not meet the narrow futility exception, which applies where exhaustion would be futile because of the lack of adequate opportunity to challenge the tribal court’s jurisdiction.

The panel held inapplicable the exhaustion exception for cases in which the tribal court plainly lacks jurisdiction. The panel stated that the main rule of Montana v. United States, 450 U.S. 544 (1981), that generally Indian tribes lack civil authority over the conduct of nonmembers on non-Indian land within a reservation, was unlikely to apply to the facts of this case. The panel held that the district court correctly relied upon Water Wheel Camp Recreation Area, Inc. v. LaRance, 642 F.3d 802 (9th Cir. 2011), which recognizes that a tribe’s inherent authority over tribal land may provide for regulatory authority over non-Indians on that land without the need to consider Montana. Moreover, even if the tribal court were to apply Montana’s main rule, the Nevada corporation’s consensual relationship with the tribal corporation, or the financial implications of their agreement, likely would place the case squarely within one of Montana’s exceptions and allow for tribal jurisdiction.

Briefs are here.

Ninth Circuit Briefs in Evans v. Shoshone-Bannock Land Use Commission

Here:

Appellant Opening Brief

Appellee Answer Brief

Appellant Reply Brief

Lower court materials are here.

Tort Claim against Rincon Casino Operations Dismissed on Tribal Court Exhaustion Grounds

Here are the materials in Butler v. Fortunes Asian Cuisine (S.D. Cal.):

DCT Order on Exhaustion

Rincon Defendants Motion to Dismiss

State Court Complaint

Hualapai Tribal Court Issues Stay Order in Tribal Court Suit against Grand Canyon Skywalk

Here:

Hualapai Tribal Court Stay Order

Omaha Tribal Court Opinion Holding Tribe Has Authority to Tax Liquor Retailers on 1854 Reservation

Here is the opinion:

Village of Pender v Morris — Omaha Tribal Court

The District of Nebraska previously ordered exhaustion of tribal remedies in this matter, materials here.

And here is the briefing schedule:

DCT Order w Briefing Schedule

News coverage here.

Fifth Circuit Briefs in Miss. Band Choctaw Tribal Court Jurisdiction Matter

Here are the briefs so far in Dolgencorp. Inc. v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians:

Dolgen Opening Brief

Tribal Appellee Brief

UPDATE (3/4/13): Dolgencorp Reply Brief

Lower court decision and materials here.

Update in Columbe v. Rosebud Sioux Tribe: Tribal Court Has Jurisdiction to Rule on Gaming Management Contract

Here are the materials in Columbe v. Rosebud Sioux Tribe (D. S.D.):

DCT Order Granting RST Motion

Columbe Motion for Summary J

RST Cross Motion for Summary J

Columbe Response

An excerpt:

Colombe now asks this Court to rule on the sole remaining issue from this Court’s September 23, 2011 Opinion and Order: Whether the Tribal Court had jurisdiction to hold that the oral modification to the NIGC-approved management contract was void. Colombe argues that the NIGC has the sole, exclusive authority to determine whether modifications to NIGC-approved management contracts can have any legal effect. Doc. 49 at 6-7. Colombe also argues that Defendants’ Tribal Court suit is prohibited because IGRA does not authorize a private cause of action. Doc. 49 at 8. Defendants counter that the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Supreme Court had jurisdiction to rule on the legal validity of the oral, unapproved modification to the approved management contract after Colombe raised the modification as a defense in the Tribe’s underlying contract suit. Doc. 59; Doc. 60. Defendants also assert that its Tribal Court suit is not for a “claimed IGRA violation” and therefore does not need to be authorized by the IGRA. Doc. 57 at 19.

Here are the materials on the Sept. 2011 order, and on the motion for reconsideration.

 

 

Federal Court Complaint Filed Alleging Turtle Mountain Tribal Court “Bad Faith”

Here are the materials in Knight v. Vondal (D. N.D.):

Knight v Vondal Complaint

Tribal Court TRO

Federal Court Orders Exhaustion of Tribal Remedies in Pojoaque Tribal Gaming Contract Dispute

Here are the materials in Fine Consulting, Inc. v. Rivera (D. N.M.):

DCT Order Granting Rivera Motion

Fine Consulting Complaint

Rivera Motion to Dismiss

Fine Consulting Opposition

Rivera Reply

If anyone doubts the impact of good Indian law scholarship, then look here. Sarah Krakoff’s excellent Colorado Law Review article Tribal Civil Judicial Jurisdiction Over Nonmembers: A Practical Guide for Judges is all over this opinion.

Plains Commerce Bank Redux — Federal Court Orders Exhaustion on Claims Not Decided by Supreme Court

Here are the materials in Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land and Cattle Co. (D. S.D.):

DCT Order Requiring Tribal Court Exhaustion

Long Family Tribal Court Complaint

Plains Commerce Federal Court Complaint [plus tribal court docs]

Plains Commerce Motion for TRO

Plains Commerce Motion for Summary J

Long Family Opposition

Plains Commerce Reply

You may recall from Justice Pommersheim’s opinion from way back in the last decade that Plains Commerce only challenged the discrimination claim against it, not the bad faith or breach of contract claims. And since the money damages verdict was a general verdict, any of the surviving claims may support the verdict.