tribal court

Colville Employment Case in Tribal Court — News Coverage

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Wenatchee World:

NESPELEM — A judge for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation has upheld an administrative law judge’s decision ordering the tribe to rehire and give backpay to five employees who were fired during budget cuts last November.

But the July 23 ruling by Colville Tribal Chief Judge Steven Aycock also asks the employees and tribal government to “sit down and discuss a resolution that all can live with” given the tribe’s budget troubles.
Aycock wrote that relief is “problematic,” due to the tribes’ financial problems. “The positions are not budgeted. No monies have been budgeted for backpay,” he wrote. Instead, he’s asked each party to file a recommendation for appropriate relief within 60 days, and the court will revisit the issue of relief on Sept. 15.

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GTB Chairman Election Re-Run

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the court order referenced in the Record-Eagle article — Bailey v. GTB Election Board

PESHAWBESTOWN — A new election will be held for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians’ chairman’s post after a tribal court ruled the band’s election board improperly censured candidate Derek Bailey just before the initial vote.

A 23-page order issued by the band’s appellate court last week threw out the results of the May 21 tribal chairman’s election and ordered a new vote for the four-year post.

Bailey lost by 23 votes to two-term incumbent Robert Kewaygoshkum. But he challenged the results because the band’s Election Board held an emergency meeting two days before the election and subsequently issued an e-mail censuring him for allegedly using his tribal computer to visit his campaign Web site.

No date for the new election has been scheduled, tribal officials said.

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Beltran v. Harrah’s Arizona Corp. — Tort Claim Against Casino

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The Arizona Court of Appeals, Division 2, affirmed the dismissal of a tort complaint against the management company for the Ak-Chin Indian Community. The plaintiffs had filed a tribal court claim that had been dismissed for procedural reasons (failure to identify the proper party).

Opinion

beltran-v-harrahs-appellee-brief

[appellant’s briefs unavailable]

White Feather Wellness Project

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Petoskey News-Review:

PELLSTON — A proposal to create a place of healing for troubled youth at the former Camp Pellston got words of encouragement Saturday from legislators and some local residents.

The White Feather Wellness Project hosted an open house at the former corrections camp west of Pellston, which the state shut down in 2002.

White Feather, which includes members of several Indian tribes and other community members, would like to convert the camp to a residential treatment facility that would use Native American teachings in treating teens facing substance abuse and other difficulties.

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Two State Supreme Court Cases Decided This Week

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The first, In the Interest of N.N.E., an Iowa Supreme Court case involving the Tyme Maidu Tribe in California, struck down a portion of the Iowa ICWA.

The second, Langdeau v. Langdeau, a South Dakota Supreme Court case involving an Indian Country divorce proceeding, rejected exclusive tribal court jurisdiction over the case.

Shepherd v. Slade — Mystic Lake Casino Employee Dispute

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here, the Minnesota Court of Appeals in an unpublished decision declined to dismiss a claim for tortious interference with contract and other claims, denying a Rule 19 (state law) motion. From the opinion:

Appellant challenges the district court’s denial of her motion to dismiss respondent’s complaint on the ground that it is barred by the doctrine of sovereign immunity. Appellant asserts that the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (the tribe) is an indispensable party to the suit and that, because the tribe cannot be joined, the suit must be dismissed. We conclude that the tribe is neither a necessary nor an indispensable party and therefore affirm the district court’s decision.

Slip op. at 2.

The underlying dispute arose when the nonmember tribal casino employee was barred from the casino by the tribal court (and therefore terminated). The state trial court made disturbing statements about the tribal court, but the COA, while troubled, did not find those statements sufficient to reverse:

We agree that the district court’s comments are troubling. “‘Tribal courts have repeatedly been recognized as appropriate forums for the exclusive adjudication of disputes affecting important personal and property interests of both Indians and non-Indians.'” St. Pierre v. Norton, 498 F. Supp. 2d 214, 221 (D.D.C. 2007) (quoting Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49, 65-66, 98 S. Ct. 1670, 1680-81 (1978)); see also Lewis v. Norton, 424 F.3d 959, 962 (9th Cir. 2005) (“The issue is not whether the plaintiffs’ claims would be successful in these tribal forums, but only whether tribal forums exist that could potentially resolve the plaintiffs’ claims.”). The district court’s suggestion that the tribal courts could not provide an adequate alternative forum for Shepherd’s claims lacks foundation. The fact that Shepherd is the subject of a no-trespass order by the tribe does not necessarily mean that she cannot receive a fair trial of her claims against Stade in tribal court.

Slip op. at 10.

Gaming Per Cap Bankruptcy Proceeding

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The case is In Re DeCora. It involves a Ho-Chunk member declaring bankruptcy and whether the Ho-Chunk Nation Bank’s interest in the member’s per cap proceeds were secured. The opinion is a little entertaining, beginning with a reference to Frank Zappa:

Musician and satirist Frank Zappa once quipped that “Communism doesn’t work because people like to own stuff.” Whether this is an accurate take on geopolitical realities or not, the concept of personal property rights is certainly deeply ingrained into American culture and jurisprudence. In America, people may own all the stuff they can afford, and they can sell or give their stuff to someone else. Even when life doesn’t take Visa (or some other unsecured form of credit), people find ways to use their stuff as collateral for loans so that they can run out and buy more stuff. The present case involves competing interests in an intangible bit of stuff that this Court has encountered before-namely, a debtor’s right to receive tribal per capita distributions from tribal gaming revenues. The debtor used his right to future distributions as collateral for a loan so that he could afford, among other things, a new car. The question is whether the creditor took sufficient steps to protect its security interest from challenge.

Slip op. at 1-2.

The court also cites to numerous Ho-Chunk tribal court opinions. For example:

Third, the tribal courts of the Ho-Chunk Nation have themselves indicated that tribal members have a right to per capita distributions, if and when they are made, as long as that member is on the rolls of the Ho-Chunk Nation. See Kedrowski, 284 B.R. at 448-49; Hendrickson v. HCN Enrollment, CV 99-10 (Ho-Chunk Nation Trial Court 1999).

Slip op. at 3.

Here are the materials:

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Former Sault Tribe Appellate Judge Speaks

Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

From the Soo Evening News:

SAULT STE. MARIE – Local Attorney Michael Winnick explained that his resignation from the Sault Ste. Marie Tribal Court of Appeals came for one reason and one reason alone.

Integrity.

“My name is the only thing I truly own and I do not want it in any way shape or form dirtied by what is taking place on that reservation,” said Winnick. “I owe it to myself, my profession and to any mentor I have ever had who took the time to teach me right from wrong.”

Winnick said recent allegations that he stepped down because he was not named chief judge – a position the Appellate Court took in a 15-page memorandum dispensed at a recent meeting of the Sault Tribe Board of Directors – are simply untrue.

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CSKT Chief Judge Moran Walks On

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Judge Moran was a named party in Moran v. Council of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, 22 Indian L. Rep. 6149 (C.S. & K.T. Ct. App. 1995).

From KPAX:

Judge William Joseph Moran, Chief Justice of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Appellate Court and Chief Judge of the Tribal Court, died at his home Wednesday. He was 65 years old.

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Efficient Justice in Tribal Courts — Workers Comp Claims in Wyoming

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Caspar Star-Tribune:

It usually starts with a slip and a fall, or a limb that gets crushed or smashed. For Corey Johnston of Thermopolis, it was a 10-pound bolt that fell on his head in April 2000.

Almost as urgent as immediate medical treatment was the arduous process of filing and maintaining a claim with the Wyoming Workers’ Compensation Division.

During recovery from his head, neck and back injuries, Johnston received a temporary total disability benefit, calculated at two-thirds of Wyoming’s average monthly wage. But the payment stopped when he failed to file a monthly form to the division.

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