Colorado Federal Court Rejects Ute Tribes’ Challenge to State Sports Betting Law

Here are the new materials in Southern Ute Indian Tribe v. Polis (D. Colo.):

33 Motion to Dismiss

58-1 Second Amended Complaint

61 Second Motion to Dismiss

62 Opposition

68 Reply

69 DCT Order

Prior post here.

Utah District Court Dismisses Utah and Individual Challenges to Bears Ears National Monument

On Friday, August 11, 2023, United States District Judge David Nuffer of the United States District Court of the District of Utah granted motions to dismiss the cases challenging the Bears Ears National Monument designation.

Here is the Order:

Previous post with briefs here and here.

Bears Ears at Sunset. Photo credit: Tim Peterson.

Tribal Nations Granted Intervention in Bears Ears Litigation

On November 18, 2022, the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and the Pueblo of Zuni moved to intervene in two lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah regarding the Bears Ears National Monument. The Court granted the motions to intervene.

Order granting intervention here:

Motions can be seen here and here.

Bears Ears at Sunset. Photo credit: Tim Peterson.

Denezpi v. United States — Cert Petition re: CFR Courts as Federal Courts

Here is the petition and appendix:

Cert Petition

Appendix

Lower court materials here.

Question presented:

Is the Court of Indian Offenses of Ute Mountain Ute Agency a federal agency such that Merle Denezpi’s conviction in that court barred his subsequent prosecution in a United States District Court for a crime arising out of the same incident?

Update:

Federal Opposition Brief

Tenth Circuit Confirms Criminal Convictions in Courts of Indian Offenses are Not Federal Convictions for Double Jeopardy Purposes

Here are the materials in United States v. Denezpi:

CA10 Opinion

Denezpi Opening Brief

US Answer Brief

Reply Brief

DCT Order Denying Motion to Dismiss

Qualified Expert Witness Case out of Utah Court of Appeals [ICWA]

Here.

In this case, the GAL petitioned to remove the child from the mother’s care. This GAL has considerable issues with the application of ICWA:

The GAL argued that since ICWA does not explicitly
define what qualifies a witness as an expert, the juvenile
court had “discretion to determine whether a witness has
adequate qualifications to provide the proffered testimony.” Although the three therapists were not qualified to testify regarding tribal cultural standards, the GAL asserted that the court was not bound by the BIA regulations and urged the court to qualify the therapists as expert witnesses anyway . . .

The Court of Appeals instead agreed with mother and Tribe, stating:

Therefore, because the BIA is a federal administrative agency and ICWA is a federal statute, we must employ the principles articulated in Chevron to determine whether the BIA’s 2016 regulation defining “qualified expert witness” is entitled to deference.

***
Determining that a “qualified expert witness” “should be qualified to testify as to the prevailing social and cultural standards of the Indian child’s Tribe” is consistent with Congressional intent and is reasonable.

Unfortunately, the appellate court ultimately held that:

Although the juvenile court correctly applied Chevron
deference to the BIA’s interpretation of ICWA, it did not
correctly apply the regulation, because it rejected the GAL’s experts solely on the ground that they were not qualified to testify regarding the Tribe’s cultural standards without considering whether those standards had any actual bearing on the proposed grounds for removal. Further, the juvenile court erred in determining that Mother could claim therapist–patient privilege with respect to testimony from her therapist and the family therapist. We therefore reverse the juvenile court’s decision and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Briefs on Federal Motion to Dismiss in Bears Ears Litigation

Here are the materials in Hopi Tribe v. Trump (D. D.C.):

48 DCT Order Denying Transfer Motion

49-1 Federal Motion to Dismiss

50 Intervenors Motion to Dismiss

61 TWS Brief

63 GSCE Brief

71 UDB Brief

72 NRDC Brief

74 Tribal Response

74-1 Exhibits

75-1 Law Profs Brief

82-1 Members of Congress Amicus Brief

87-1 Local Elected Officials Amicus Brief

89 States Amicus Brief in Opposition to MTD

91-1 Archeological Orgs Amicus Brief

93 NCAI AAIA Bears Ears Amicus Brief

94-2 Outdoor Alliance Brief

Prior posts here.

Tribal Opposition to Trump Administration’s Motion to Change Venue in Bears Ears Matter to Utah

Here is the pleading in Hopi Tribe v. Trump (D.D.C.):

Doc. 26 Plaintiffs’ Opposition to Federal Defendants’ Motion to Transfer 2018-02-01

The motion is here.

Administration Moves for Transfer to Utah in Bears Ears

Here is the motion in Hopi Tribe et al v. Donald J. Trump et al, 17-cv-02590 (D.D.C.):

21 – Federal Defendants’ Motion to Transfer Case to the District of Utah

Link: Case Archive

Five Tribes Complaint against Trump over Bears Ears

Here is the complaint in Hopi Tribe et al. v. Trump (D.D.C.):

Doc. 1 Complaint

Update on the parallel suit involving Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument: Wilderness Society v. Trump is here