United States v. Jicarilla Apache Nation

Government’s Reply Brief in U.S. v. Jicarilla Apache Nation in Support of Cert Petition

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here: USA Reply Brief in Support of Jicarilla Petition.

 

Holiday Reading: Jicarilla Apache Nation Cert Opp in Trust Case re: Federal Attorney-Client Privilege

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here: Jicarilla cert opposition.

The petition and link to lower court materials is here.

SCOTUSBlog Lists U.S. v. Jicarilla Apache as a Petition of the Day

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From SCOTUSBlog:

Today’s second petition of the day is:

Title: United States v. Jicarilla Apache Nation
Docket: 10-382
Issue(s): Whether the attorney-client privilege entitles the United States to withhold from an Indian tribe confidential communications between the government and government attorneys implicating the administration of statutes pertaining to property held in trust for the tribe.

Certiorari-Stage Documents:

United States v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe Cert Petition

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here: Jicarilla cert petition, and the appendix, Final Jicarilla App.

Lower court materials here.

Question presented:

Whether the attorney-client privilege entitles the United States to withhold from an Indian tribe confidential communications between the government and government attorneys implicating the administration of statutes pertaining to property held in trust for the tribe.

United States v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe — Time Sensitive — OSG to Decide Whether or Not to Seek Cert in Trust Case

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here are the materials so far in United States v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe (No. 10A20):

J-2010-08-10 In re US 2d application for cert. extension

This application was granted and the new deadline is Sept. 19 (docket entry).

It may be that right now the OSG is considering whether to petition for en banc review in the Oneida land claims case (for good reason, see here), but wondering whether that en banc petition will undermine a cert petition in the Jicarilla case (documents here).

Jicarilla is about whether the United States must turn over federal trust responsibility documents it claims are privileged (and documents that indicate the U.S. has a greater fiduciary duty to tribes than the DOJ is willing to accept in litigation with Jicarilla). Whether or not to file in Oneida goes to the heart of the trust responsibility.