tribal court

GTB Compensation Committee Sues over Councilor Pay

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indianz:

The outgoing chairman of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan is being sued in tribal court over salaries of tribal council members.

The tribe’s Compensation Committee set the base council salaries at $60,000. Those serving as vice chair, secretary and treasure were supposed to receive base pay of $65,000. But right before this year’s election, chairman Robert Kewaygoshkum set higher salaries for some council members, according to the suit filed by the Compensation Committee. Kewaygoshkum reportedly makes around $100,000. Kewaygoshkum was defeated by Derek Bailey after a second election was held in September.

Get the Story:
Suit targets tribal head over new salary levels (The Leelanau News 12/15)

Article on Tulalip Elder Court

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

From the Everett Herald:

TULALIP — The young man wore loose jeans slung low on his hips. The hems were worn and frayed, and wet from being trampled on rain-soaked sidewalks. A large black sweatshirt flopped over his shoulders and arms.

It was 7:30 a.m., and he needed help.

Don “Spat-ub-kud” Hatch welcomed the teenager into a courtroom in the Tulalip Tribes’ courthouse, and told him to sit down. Before long, the young man faced Hatch and two other Tulalip elders. The teen seemed hopeful that the elders would do all the talking, but the elders refused to let him slide.

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Eighth Circuit Upholds Major Crimes Act Conviction

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

In United States v. Antelope, the Eighth Circuit dismissed the appeal of a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, who had pled guilty below. He argued on appeal that since he had also been prosecuted in tribal court, the government had violated the double jeopardy clause.

Here is the opinion.

PacificCorp v. Real Bird — No Tribal Court Jurisdiction

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

This case, out of the District of Montana, involves a trespass claim in Crow Tribal Court by Crow allottees regarding a transmission wire owned by PacificCorp.

pacificorp-motion-for-summary-judgment

real-bird-motion-to-dismiss

magistrate-findings-and-recommentations

order-adopting-findings-and-recommendations

Boomer v. Tulalip Tribes — Tribal Sovereign Immunity

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

In Boomer v. Tulalip Tribes, the Washington Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a slip-and-fall tort action against a tribe on the grounds of sovereign immunity. The court rejected the so-called Dry Creek Lodge exception, as well. The Tulalip Tort Claims Act waives tribal immunity for such claims in tribal court.

Eaton v. Mail – Exhaustion of Tribal Court Remedies

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

In this family action, the Western District of Washington held that the claim must be remanded to Quinault Tribal Court.

eaton-v-mail-dct-order

quinault-motion-to-intervene

quinault-motion-for-a-protective-order

Copyright Infringement and RICO Case against Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The Western District of Oklahoma refused to dismiss a claim against the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes. The plaintiff, Southwest Hotel and Casino Corp., sought to voluntarily dismiss the claim without prejudice after C&A received a positive tribal court judgment and moved for summary judgment in the federal court action. Instead, the court will decide the C&A summary judgment motion.

flyingman-v-sw-hotel-and-casino-tribal-court-judgment

flyingman-motion-for-summary-judgment

sw-hotel-and-casino-v-flyingman-dct-order

More GTB Election Drama

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Holy cow! It just won’t stop. 😦

From the Record-Eagle:

TRAVERSE CITY — Yet another challenge has arisen in the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians’ quest to install a chairman.

On Sept. 24, Derek Bailey defeated two-term incumbent chairman Bob Kewaygoshkum 256 to 186 for the four-year chairman position. That election was scheduled after a tribal court threw out the regularly scheduled May chairman election, in which Kewaygoshkum beat Bailey 233 to 210.

Bailey said it’s his understanding eight people filed nine separate challenges to the recent election, but he couldn’t provide details.

“I do recognize and honor the election challenge process,” he said. “(But) all of these challenges are personal character attacks and, or, are an … attack on the tribal judiciary’s ruling that was reached in August.”

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GTB Election Today

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Ugghhh. I wish we just had one election, instead of two or more every time….

From the Record-Eagle (H/T Indianz):

PESHAWBESTOWN — Members of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians will have another shot at selecting a tribal chairman today.

A tribal court in August ruled the band’s election board improperly censured candidate Derek Bailey shortly before the initial vote in May. A new election was ordered, and polls will be open today from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Peshawbestown, East Jordan, Traverse City and Benzonia.

Bailey lost by 23 votes to two-term incumbent chairman Robert Kewaygoshkum in the regularly scheduled May 21 election. But Bailey challenged the results because the band’s election board issued an e-mail censuring him for using a tribal computer to visit his campaign Web site.

The mass e-mail was sent less than 24 hours before the election to all tribal gambling and government employees. A tribal appeals court eventually ruled the action was “far outside the scope of the authority granted to the election board under the Constitution.”

Bailey, who served as a tribal councilman before running for chairman, is pleased to see the new election.

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Eighth Circuit: Oglala Sioux Tribe Waiver of Immunity

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

The Eighth Circuit held in Oglala Sioux Tribe v. C&W Enterprises that the tribe waived its immunity from suit in an enforcement action in state court despite the fact that the tribe had not expressly waived its immunity via the contract. Here are the materials:

appellant-brief

appellee-brief

oglala-v-c&w-ca8-opinion