Federal Court Decisions
This page provides links to all Federal Courts
and case summaries of Indian law cases decided by the United
States Supreme Court from 1991 through 2008 with links to the court
syllabus, the full opinions for each case, and all dissents. This page also
contains information concerning Indian law cases pending before the U.S. Supreme
Court during the current term.
Supreme Court asks for DOJ views on Alaska ICWA case - The
U.S. Supreme Court has
asked the Department of Justice
for the views of the federal government to help it decide whether to
accept Hogan v. Kaltag Tribal Council, a case in which Alaska
questions whether federally recognized tribes can resolve
Indian Child
Welfare Act cases, as reported by Indianz.com on April 26. In the
case, Alaska questions whether federally recognized tribes can resolve
Indian Child Welfare Act cases.
Attorney General Dan Sullivan
believes the state’s court system takes precedence over tribal court
judgments. The case involves a mother who was convicted of murder and
had a drinking problem. The father did not want anything to do with the
child. The Kaltag tribe took custody, and the child was adopted, with
the consent of all parties involved, by a Native family that lives in
Huslia. But the state’s attorney general, contending that the state’s
court system takes precedence over a tribal court, wants to put a stop
to it. Indianz.Com. In Print –
http://www.indianz.com/News/2010/019465.asp
Learn More About the Case
Supreme Court Order List:
Orders in Pending Cases (April 26, 2010)
9th Circuit Decision:
Kaltag Tribal Council v. Jackson (August 28, 2009)
Related Stories:
Alaska Native ICWA
case considered a petition to watch (4/20)
Alaska presses
Supreme Court in tribal adoption case (3/11)
Alaska attorney
general nominee has Native ties (6/17)
Failed Alaska nominee
signed land-into-trust letter (5/11)
Alaska lawmakers
reject attorney general nominee (4/17)
Editorial: Bigotry an
issue for Alaska attorney general pick (4/16)
Alaska nominee
grilled on Native rights issues (4/9)
Editorial: Alaska
nominee’s past views not an issue (4/8)
Alaska nominee won’t
discuss tribal sovereignty (4/3)
Alaska Natives oppose
state attorney general pick (4/1) |
Supreme Court Decisions (20010-2011)
United States v. Jicarilla Apache Nation (Docket
10-382).
Issue: 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. Tohono O’odham Nation (Docket 09-846).
Issue: A federal statute provides that the Court of Federal Claims lacks
jurisdiction to hear a suit against the federal government raising a claim that
is already being litigated against the government in another court. Does this
provision apply when the plaintiff brings a lawsuit in both the Court of Federal
Claims and another court based on the same set of facts, but seeks different
forms of relief in the two cases?
Madison County v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York (Docket
10-72) Issue(s): (1) Whether tribal sovereign immunity from suit bars taxing
authorities from foreclosing to collect lawfully imposed property taxes; and (2)
whether the ancient Oneida reservation in New York was disestablished or
diminished.
Supreme Court Decisions (2009-2010)
United States v. Tohono O’odham Nation (Docket
09-846)
Issue: Whether 28
U.S.C. § 1500 — which precludes jurisdiction by the Court of Federal Claims
(CFC) over ”any claim for or in respect to which the plaintiff has any suit or
process against the United States” or its agents “pending in any other court”
– deprives the CFC of jurisdiction over a claim seeking monetary relief for the
government’s alleged violation of fiduciary obligations if the plaintiff has
another suit pending in federal district court based on substantially the same
operative facts, especially when the plaintiff seeks monetary relief or other
overlapping relief in the two suits.
Supreme Court Decisions (2008-2009)
Supreme Court rules in big land-into-trust case (February 24, 2009) Tribes
that weren't under federal jurisdiction in 1934 cannot follow the
land-into-trust process of the Indian Reorganization Act, the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled in Carcieri V. Salazar.
By a 6-3 vote, the justices said the Interior Department can't acquire land for
the Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island because the tribe didn't gain federal
recognition until 1983. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the majority opinion.
Three justices dissented from the court's opinion. Justice David Souter agreed
with the 1934 issue but said the Narragansetts should be given the opportunity
to prove they were under federal jurisdiction at the time, an issue that wasn't
argued when the case was accepted. "The very notion of jurisdiction as a
distinct statutory condition was ignored in this litigation, and I know of no
body of precedent or history of practice giving content to the condition
sufficient for gauging the tribe’s chances of satisfying it," Souter wrote in an
opinion that was joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice John Paul
Stevens disagreed with the 1934 issue altogether and said the Narragansetts are
an Indian tribe as defined by the IRA. "That tribe has existed as a continuous
political entity since the early 17th century," he wrote. Justice Stephen G.
Breyer joined the majority opinion and authored a concurrence that said the
Narragansetts have no way of proving they were under federal jurisdiction in
1934. "Because I see no realistic possibility that the Narragansett Tribe could
prevail on the basis of a theory alternative to the theories argued here, I
would not remand this case," he wrote.
More Information >>>
Supreme Court Decisions (2007-2008)
Plains Commerce Bank, Petitioner v. Long Family
Land and Cattle Company, Inc., et al. (NO. 07-411), reversed
Syllabus |
Opinion [Roberts] |
Dissent [Ginsburg]
No. 07–411. Argued April 14, 2008—Decided June 25, 2008
Issue: Whether Indian tribal courts have subject-matter
jurisdiction to adjudicate civil tort claims as an
“other means” of regulating the conduct of a nonmember
bank owning fee-land on a reservation that entered into
a private commercial agreement with a member-owned
corporation?
Held: According to precedents, “a tribe’s adjudicative
jurisdiction does not exceed its legislative
jurisdiction.” Id., at 453. We reaffirm that
principle today and hold that the Tribal Court lacks
jurisdiction to hear the Longs’ discrimination claim
because the Tribe lacks the civil authority to regulate
the Bank’s sale of its fee land.
Exxon Shipping Company, Petitioners v. Grant
Baker, et al.
Docketed: August 21, 2007
Lower Court: United States Court of Appeals for the
Ninth Circuit
Case Nos.: (04-35183)
Decision Date: December 22, 2006
Rehearing Denied: May 23, 2007
The questions presented are: 1. May
punitive damages be imposed under maritime law against a
shipowner (as the Ninth Circuit held, contrary to
decisions of the First, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh
Circuits) for the conduct of a ship’s master at sea,
absent a finding that the owner directed, countenanced,
or participated in that conduct, and even when the
conduct was contrary to policies established and
enforced by the owner? 2. When Congress has specified
the criminal and civil penalties for maritime conduct in
a controlling statute, here the Clean Water Act, but has
not provided for punitive damages, may judge-made
federal maritime law (as the Ninth Circuit held,
contrary to decisions of the First, Second, Fifth, and
Sixth Circuits) expand the penalties Congress provided
by adding a punitive damages remedy? 3. Is this $2.5
billion punitive damages award, which is larger than the
total of all punitive damages awards affirmed by all
federal appellate courts in our history, within the
limits allowed by (1) federal maritime law or (2) if
maritime law could permit such an award, constitutional
due process?
Decisions:
Steven MacArthur, et al., Petitioners v. San Juan County, Utah, et al.
Docketed: November 27, 2007
Lower Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Case Nos.: (05-4295, 05-4310)
Decision Date: July 18, 2007
Rehearing Denied: August 14, 2007
History: Petition for certiorari was filed on November 13, 2007.
Question Presented for Review: Whether the court of appeals
properly held that, with one exception, the Navajo tribal court lacked
jurisdiction over respondents and, on that ground and others, properly affirmed
the district court's dismissal of petitioners' claim seeking to enforce certain
preliminary orders of the Navajo tribal court?
Island, et al., Petitioners v. Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Interior, et
al.
Docketed: October 23, 2007
Lower Court: United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Case Nos.: (03-2647)
Docket No. 07-526
Decision Date: July 20, 2007
History: Petition for certiorari was filed on October 18, 2007.
The questions presented are: (1) Does Indian Reorganization Act
empower secretary to take land into trust for Indian tribes that were not
recognized and under federal jurisdiction in 1934? (2) Does act of Congress that
extinguishes aboriginal title and all claims based on Indian rights and
interests in land preclude secretary from creating Indian country there? (3)
Does providing land "for Indians" in Indian Reorganization Act establish
sufficiently intelligible principle upon which to delegate power to take land
into trust?
Supreme Court Decisions (2005-2006)
Supreme Court move settles tribal authority cases
(October 11, 2006) Tribal jurisdiction over all Indians appears to be safe after
the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected two cases, including a long-running
challenge from activist Russell Means. Means, a member of the Oglala Sioux
Tribe, is accused of committing a crime on the Navajo Nation in 1997. He has
repeatedly claimed that the can't be held responsible because he isn't a Navajo
citizen. But after a string of appeals in tribal and federal court, the author
and actor can now be prosecuted for allegedly beating up his former
father-in-law during a domestic violence incident. The U.S. Supreme Court's
refusal to hear his case clears the way for tribal jurisdiction.
More Information >>>
Wagnon v. Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation (No. 04-631), reversed
Syllabus |
Opinion
(Thomas) | Dissent
(Ginsburg)
Argued October 3, 2005 — Decided December 6, 2005
Issue: Whether a state motor fuels tax that is "imposed on the use, sale,
or delivery" of motor fuel may be imposed on motor fuel that a non-Indian,
off-reservation distributor delivers and sells directly to an Indian Tribe
at its on-reservation service station.
Held: The Court finds that the balancing test does not apply because the legal
incidence of the tax falls on non-tribal distributors. Therefore, the tax is
valid and poses no affront to the Nation’s sovereignty. The Bracker
interest-balancing test does not apply to a tax that results from an
off-reservation transaction between non-Indians. Supreme Court Decisions (2004-2005)
City of
Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of N.Y. (No.03-855), reversed and remanded
Syllabus |
Opinion
(Ginsburg) |
Concurrence (Souter) |
Dissent
(Stevens)
Argued January 11, 2005 — Decided March 29, 2005
Question: Can Two Centuries of Non-Indian Occupation Eliminate the Non-Taxable
Status of Tribal Lands in a Treaty-Recognized Reservation? Held: The Court holds
that given the longstanding, distinctly non-Indian character of central New York
and its inhabitants, the regulatory authority over the area constantly exercised
by the State and its counties and towns for 200 years, and the Oneidas’ long
delay in seeking judicial relief against parties other than the United States,
standards of federal Indian law and federal equity practice preclude the Tribe
from unilaterally reviving its ancient sovereignty, in whole or in part, over
the parcels at issue. The Oneidas long ago relinquished governmental reins and
cannot regain them through open-market purchases from current titleholders.
Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma et al. v. Leavitt, Secretary of Health and
Human Services, et al. (No. 02—1472)
Syllabus |
Opinion (Breyer)
| Concurrence
(Scalia)
Argued November 9, 2004 — Decided March 1, 2005
Question: 1. Whether the federal government can repudiate, without liability,
express contractual commitments for which it has received valuable
consideration, either by spending down discretionary agency appropriations
otherwise available to pay its contracts, or simply by changing the law and the
contracts retroactively. 2. Whether government contract payment rights that are
contingent on "the availability of appropriations" vest when an agency receives
a lump-sum appropriation that is legally available to pay the contracts — as is
the law of the Federal Circuit under Blackhawk Heating — or is the government's
liability calculated only at the end of the year after the agency has spent its
appropriations on other activities, as the Tenth Circuit ruled below. Held: The
Government is legally bound to pay the “contract support costs” at issue.
Supreme Court Decisions last term (2003-2004)
Two Indian law cases were decided by the Supreme Court in the 2003-2004 term.
South Florida Water Management District v. Miccosukee Tribe of Indians et
al. (No. 02-626)
Syllabus |
Opinion
(O’Connor) |
Other (Scalia)
Argued January 14, 2004 — Decided March 23, 2004
Does pumping water into a water conservation area - where the water
being pumped contains a pollutant but the pumping station itself adds no
pollutants to the water - violate the Clean Water Act's prohibition of adding
pollutants from a point source? In an opinion delivered by Justice Sandra Day
O'Connor, the Court sent the case back to the district court to consider whether
the water conservation area and the canal used to transport the water are
distinct. If the district court decides the two are not distinct, then the water
district will not need a permit under the Clean Water Act. The Court rejected
the water district's argument that the act covers a point source only when
pollutants originate from that source, not when pollutants originating elsewhere
pass through the point source. A point source need only convey the pollutant to
navigable waters. The Court was unanimous in sending the case back to district
court. Justice Antonin Scalia dissented from part of the Court's reasoning.
Analysis
United States v. Lara (No. 03-107), reversed
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Breyer) | Concurrence
(Stevens) | Concurrence
(Kennedy) | Concurrence
(Thomas) | Dissent
(Souter)
Argued January 21, 2004 — Decided April 19, 2004
Does the Indian Civil Rights Act (1968) give Indian tribes separate sovereignty
to prosecute nonmembers (as opposed to delegating federal power to the tribes
for prosecution purposes) such that prosecution in tribal and federal courts for
the same crime would not violate the Fifth Amendment double jeopardy clause?
Yes. The
Court found that the right to prosecute nonmember Indians is inherent in the
sovereignty of Native American tribes. Congress may constitutionally choose to
restrict this right, but its choice not to (or its choice to relax
earlier-imposed restrictions) is different from a delegation of federal
prosecutorial power. Prosecuting a crime under both federal and tribal law,
therefore, does not violate the Constitution's ban on double jeopardy.
U.S. Supreme Court Indian Law Decisions 2002-2003 Term
Three Indian law cases were decided by the Supreme Court in the
2002-2003 term.
Inyo County v. Paiute-Shoshone Indians (No. 02-281) 538 U.S. 701
(2003), vacated and remanded
Syllabus | Opinion
(Ginsburg) | Concurrence
(Stevens)
Argued March 31, 2003 — Decided May 19, 2003
Does doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity enable Indian tribes, their
gambling casinos, and other commercial businesses to prohibit searching of their
property by law enforcement officers for criminal evidence pertaining to
commission of off-reservation state crimes, when search is pursuant to search
warrant issued upon probable cause? The Court holds that the Tribe may not sue
under §1983 to
vindicate the sovereign right it here claims. Section 1983 permits “citizen[s]”
and “other person[s] within the jurisdiction” of the United States to seek
legal and equitable relief from “person[s]” who, under color of state law,
deprive them of federally protected rights. Although this case does not squarely
present the question, the Court assumes that tribes, like States, are not
subject to suit under §1983. See Michigan Dept. of State v. Will,
491 U.S. 58.
Oral Argument (Real
Audio) Oral
Opinion (RealAudio)
United States v. Navajo Nation (01-1375) 537
U.S. 488 (2003), reversed and remanded
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Ginsburg) | Dissent
(Souter)
Argued December 2, 2002 — Decided March 4, 2003
Question: Whether the court of appeals properly held that the United States is liable to the Navajo Nation for up to $600 million in damages for breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the Secretary's actions concerning an Indian mineral lease, without finding that the Secretary had violated any specific statutory or regulatory duty established pursuant to the
IMLA. The Court rejects the Tribe's arguments that the Secretary's actions in
this case violated discrete statutory and regulatory provisions whose breach is
redressable in a damages action.
Oral Argument (Real
Audio) Oral
Opinion (RealAudio)
United States v. White Mountain Apache Tribe (No. 01-1067)
537 U.S. 465 (2003), affirmed and remanded
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Souter)| Dissent
(Thomas) | Concurrence
(Ginsburg)
Argued December 2, 2002 — Decided March 4, 2003
Does the Court of Federal Claims, under the Indian Tucker Act, have jurisdiction
over the White Mountain Apache Tribe's suit against the United States for breach
of fiduciary duty to manage land and improvements held in trust for the Tribe
but occupied by the federal government? Yes. The Court held that Public Law
86-392 gives rise to Indian Tucker Act jurisdiction in the Court of Federal
Claims over the Tribe's suit. The Court reasoned that, although the statute
providing for the land to be held in trust imposed no duties on the United
States to maintain the land, the occupation of such land by the United States
raised a duty to preserve trust assets and that it naturally followed that the
United States was liable in damages for the breach of such duties. Justice
Clarence Thomas, with whom Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justice
Antonin Scalia and Anthony M. Kennedy joined, dissented. Justice Thomas argued
that the majority's opinion "radically alters the relevant inquiry from one
focused on the actual fiduciary duties created by statute or regulation to one
divining fiduciary duties out of the use of the word 'trust' and notions of
factual control."
Oral Argument (Real
Audio) Oral
Opinion (RealAudio)
U.S. Supreme Court Indian Law Decisions 2001-2002 term
Two Indian Law Decisions ware handed down in the 2001-2002 term.
United States v. Little Six Inc.
(No. 00-111)
Decided April 22, 2002
Question Presented: Does Section 20 (d) of IGRA, 25 U.S.C. § 2719(d),
exempt Native American tribes from wagering excise and occupational taxes
imposed by Sections 4401 and 4411 of IRC? The Supreme Court vacated the
judgment and the case was remanded to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit for further consideration in light of Chickasaw
Nation v. United States. Holding Below:
Little
Six, Inc. and Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux (Dakota) Community v. United States 210
F.3d 1361 Fed. Cir. Court held that although tribal revenues from wagers placed
on "pull-tab" games operated on Indian reservations are subject to
federal excise tax and related occupational tax under Sections 4401 and 4411 of
Internal Revenue Code, tribes are nevertheless exempt from such taxes under
provision of Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 25 U.S.C. § 2719(d)(1), ambiguous
language of which can reasonably be construed to exempt Indian pull-tab games
from federal wagering taxes and therefore must, under Indian canon of
construction, be construed in tribe's favor.
Chickasaw Nation v. United States (No. 00-507)
534 U.S. 84 (2001) (second judgment), affirmed
Syllabus |
Opinion (Breyer)
|
Dissent (O'Connor)
Argued October 2, 2001 — Decided November 27, 2001
Question presented:
Under applicable Indian law canons of statutory construction, does the
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, by 25 U.S.C. 2719(d)(1)'s express
incorporation of Chapter 35 of the Internal Revenue Code, confer on Indian
tribes conducting gaming operations the same exemption from wagering taxes
afforded to states by Chapter 35 of the Internal Revenue Code? The
Supreme Court held that Section 2719(d)(i) does not exempt tribes from paying
the gambling-related taxes that chapter 35 imposes.
Transcripted Oral
Argument (Real Audio)
There is one pending Indian law cases held over from 2001-2002 term.
Alaska v. United States, Docket No. 128 Original
Subjects: Submerged Lands and Wetlands
History: Motion for leave to file complaint granted 6/12/00. Proposed
supplemental decree of 6/19/00 approved and entered 10/10/00. Special Master
appointed 10/16/00. Motion for Alaska to file amended complaint granted
01/08/01. Amended complaint and answer are referred to the Special Master
3/5/01. Motion of Franklin H. James, et al., for leave to intervene is referred
to the Special Master 4/30/01. Motion of the Special Master for fees and
reimbursement of expenses is granted, and the Special Master is awarded a total
of $12,963.14 for the period October 16, 2000 - April 16, 2001, to be paid
equally by the parties 5/14/01.
U.S. Supreme Court Indian Law Decisions 2000-2001 term
Five Indian Law Decisions ware handed down in the 2000-2001 term.
Nevada, et. al. v. Hicks, Floyd, et. al. (No. 99-1994)
533 U.S. 353 (2001), reversed and remanded
Syllabus |
Opinion (Scalia)
|
Concurrence (Souter)
|
Concurrence
(Ginsburg) | Concurrence
(O'Conner) | Concurrence
(Stevens)
Argued March 21, 2001 — Decided June 25, 2001
May a tribal court assert jurisdiction over civil claims against state officials
who entered tribal land to execute a search warrant against a tribe member
suspected of having violated state law outside the reservation? No. A unanimous
Court held that "[b]ecause the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribes lacked legislative
authority to restrict, condition, or otherwise regulate the ability of state
officials to investigate off-reservation violations of state law, they also
lacked adjudicative authority to hear respondent's claim that those officials
violated tribal law in the performance of their duties. "[S]ince the lack of
authority is clear," continued Scalia, "there is no need to exhaust the
jurisdictional dispute in tribal court. State officials operating on a
reservation to investigate off-reservation violations of state law are properly
held accountable for tortious conduct and civil rights violations in either
state or federal court, but not in tribal court."
Oral Argument (Real
Audio) Oral
Opinion (RealAudio)
Idaho v. United States, et. al. (No. 00-189) 533
U.S. 262 (2001), affirmed
Syllabus | Opinion
(Souter)
| Dissent (Rehnquist)
Argued April 23, 2001 — Decided June 18, 2001
Does the National Government hold title, in trust for the Coeur d'Alene Tribe,
to lands underlying portions of Lake Coeur d'Alene and the St. Joe River? Yes.
The Court held that the National Government holds title, in trust for the Tribe,
to lands underlying portions of Lake Coeur d'Alene and the St. Joe River.
Justice Souter wrote for the Court that "Congress recognized the full extent of
the Executive Order reservation lying within the stated boundaries it ultimately
confirmed, and intended to bar passage to Idaho of title to the submerged lands
at issue here." Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, with whom Justices Antonin
Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, and Clarence Thomas joined, dissented. "Congress'
desire to divest an entering State of its sovereign interest in submerged lands
must be 'definitely declared or otherwise made very plain,'" argued Chief
Justice Rehnquist, "That standard has not been met here." See Supreme
Court to take on lake ownership (from Indianz.Com)
Oral Argument
(Real Audio)
Oral Opinion (RealAudio)
Atkinson Trading Co. v. Shirley (No.
00-454) 532 U.S. 645 (2001), reversed
Syllabus
| Opinion (Rehnquist)
| Concurrence (Souter)
Argued March 27, 2001 — Decided May 29, 2001
Does the rule in Montana v. United States, that, with limited exceptions,
Indian tribes lack civil authority over the conduct of nonmembers on non-Indian
fee land within a reservation, apply to tribal attempts to tax nonmember
activity occurring on non-Indian fee land? Yes. In a unanimous opinion delivered
by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, the Court held that the Navajo Nation's
imposition of a hotel occupancy tax upon nonmembers on non-Indian fee land
within its reservation is invalid. Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote that "Indian
tribes are 'unique aggregations possessing attributes of sovereignty over both
their members and their territory,' but their dependent status generally
precludes extension of tribal civil authority beyond these limits. The Navajo
Nation's imposition of a tax upon nonmembers on non-Indian fee land within the
reservation is, therefore, presumptively invalid. Because respondents have
failed to establish that the hotel occupancy tax is commensurately related to
any consensual relationship with [Atkinson] or is necessary to vindicate the
Navajo Nation's political integrity, the presumption ripens into a holding."
See Supreme
Court to take on taxation (from Indianz.Com)
Oral Argument (Real
Audio) Oral
Opinion (RealAudio)
C & L Enterprises, Inc. v. Citizen Band Potawatomi
(No. 00-292) 532 U.S. 411 (2001), reversed and
remanded
Syllabus
| Opinion (Ginsburg)
Argued March 19, 2001 — Decided April 30, 2001
Does a federally recognized tribe waives its immunity from suit in state court
when it expressly agrees to arbitrate disputes relating to a contract, to the
governance of state law, and to the enforcement of arbitral awards in any court
with proper jurisdiction? Yes. In a unanimous opinion, the Court held that
"under the agreement the Tribe proposed and signed, the Tribe clearly consented
to arbitration and to the enforcement of arbitral awards in Oklahoma state
court; the Tribe thereby waived its sovereign immunity from C & L's suit."
Justice Ginsburg wrote for the Court that "the Tribe agreed, by express
contract, to adhere to certain dispute resolution procedures."
See Supreme
Court to consider immunity (from Indianz.Com)
Oral Argument (Real
Audio) Oral
Opinion (RealAudio) Dept of Interior v. Klamath Water Users
Protect. Assoc. (No. 99-1871) 532
U.S. 1 (2001), affirmed
Syllabus | Opinion
(Souter)
Argued January 10, 2001 — Decided March 5, 2001
Are documents shared between the Klamath and other Indian Tribes and the
Department of the Interior, which address tribal interests subject to state and
federal proceedings to determine water allocations, exempt from the disclosure
requirements of the Freedom of Information Act, as " inter-agency or
intra-agency memorandums or letters?" No. In a unanimous opinion the Court ruled
that there is no exemption under FOIA for the correspondence between the Tribes
and the Bureau. Because the Klamath Tribe advocated its own positions in the
water allocation proceedings, the communications between it and the Bureau did
not equate to the role that personnel fulfils, in that personnel do not
represent their own interests. Therefore, the documents were not exempt from
public disclosure as inter-agency or intra-agency communications. "All of this
boils down to requesting that we read an 'Indian trust' exemption into the
statute, a reading that is out of the question," wrote Justice Souter for the
Court.
For more information on this decision, see Supreme
Court Delivers Blow to Tribes (from Indianz.Com)
Oral Argument (Real
Audio) Oral
Opinion (RealAudio)U.S. Supreme Court Indian Law Decisions
1999-2000 Term
Two Indian law cases were decided by the Supreme Court in the1999-2000 term.
Arizona v. California, 530 U.S. 392 (2000)
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Ginsburg)
| Other
(Rehnquist)
Argued April 25, 2000 — Decided June 19, 2000
Are the Quechan Tribe and the United States claims for increased water
rights for the Fort Yuma Reservation from the Colorado River precluded by the
Supreme Court's prior decision in Arizona v. California and by a consent
judgement? No. The Court rejected both grounds for preclusion and remanded the
case to a Special Master for a determination on the merits of the outstanding
claims for additional water rights associated with disputed Fort Yuma
Reservation boundary lands. "Those claims are the only ones that remain to be
decided in Arizona v. California; their resolution will enable the Court to
enter a final consolidated decree and bring this case to a close," wrote Justice
Ginsburg for the Court.
Oral Argument (Real
Audio) Oral
Opinion (RealAudio)
Rice v. Cayetano (No. 98-818)
528 U.S. 495 (2000), reversed
Syllabus | Opinion
(Kennedy)
| Concurrence
(Breyer)
| Dissent
(Stevens) | Dissent
(Ginsburg)
Argued October 6, 1999 — Decided February 23, 2000
Does the Hawaiian Constitutional provision, which limits the right to for
the trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to qualified "Hawaiians,"
violate the Fifteenth Amendment by creating a race-based voting
qualification? Yes. The Court held that "Hawaii's denial of Rice's right
to vote in OHA trustee elections violates the Fifteenth Amendment," in
creating a race-based voting qualification. "A state may not deny or
abridge the right to vote on account of race, and this law does so,"
Justice Kennedy wrote for the Court. The court rejected the state's
argument that the voting limitation was one based on ancestry, not race.
In dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for himself and Ruth Bader
Ginsburg that the majority's decision "rests largely on the repetition
of glittering generalities that have little, if any, application to the
compelling history of the state of Hawaii."
Oral
Argument (Real Audio)
Oral Opinion
(RealAudio)
U.S. Supreme Court Indian Law Decisions 1998-1999 Term
Four Indian law cases were decided by the Supreme Court in the
1998-1999 term.
Amoco Production Company v. Southern Ute Indian Tribe
(No.
98-830), 526 U.S. 865 (1999),
reversed
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Kennedy)
| Dissent
(Ginsburg)
Argued April 19, 1999 — Decided June 7, 1999
The term "coal" as used in the 1909 and 1910 Coal Land Acts does
not encompass coalbed methane (CBM) gas, and, therefore, the defendant
royalty owners and producers are entitled to summary judgment against the
Tribe which had asserted ownership of the CBM gas.
Oral Argument
(Real Audio)
Oral Opinion (RealAudio)
El Paso Natural Gas Co. v. Neztsosie (No. 98-6)
526 U.S. 473 (1999), vacated and
remanded
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Souter)
Argued March 2, 1999 — Decided May 3, 1999
Do tribal courts have the authority to determine its own jurisdiction over
damage actions stemming from nuclear incidents under the Price-Anderson
Act, which grants federal district courts removal jurisdiction over such
actions? No. In a unanimous opinion, the Court held that requiring a
district court to stay its hand while a tribal court determines its own
jurisdiction, or the doctrine of tribal court exhaustion, does not apply
in this case, which if brought in a state court would be subject to
removal. "By the Price-Anderson Act's unusual preemption provision
Congress expressed an unmistakable preference for a federal forum, at
the behest of the defending party," wrote Justice Souter.
Transcripted
Oral Argument (Real Audio)
Oral Opinion (RealAudio)
Minnesota v. Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians
(No. 97-1337) 526 U.S. 172 (1999), affirmed
Syllabus
| Opinion
(O’Connor)
| Dissent
(Rehnquist) | Dissent
(Thomas)
Argued December 2, 1998 — Decided March 24, 1999
In a 5-4 decision, the U. S. Supreme Court affirmed an 8th
Circuit decision which held that the Chippewa retained usufructuary rights
to hunt, fish, and gather guaranteed to them under an 1837 treaty with
respect to land located in the State of Minnesota.
Oral Argument
(Real Audio)
Oral Opinion (RealAudio)
Arizona Department of Revenue v. Blaze Construction Co., Inc.
(No. 97-1536), 526 U.S. 32 (1999),
reversed and remanded
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Thomas)
Argued December 8, 1998 — Decided March 2, 1999
May a state impose a nondiscriminatory tax upon a private company's
proceeds from contracts with the Federal Government when the federal
contractor renders its services on an Indian reservation? Yes. In a
unanimous opinion delivered by Justice Clarence Thomas, the Court held
that a "State generally may impose a nondiscriminatory tax upon a
private company's proceeds from contracts with the Federal Government,
regardless of whether the federal contractor renders its services on an
Indian reservation." Justice Thomas wrote for the Court that, "[a]bsent
a constitutional immunity or congressional exemption, federal law does
not shield Blaze (a federal contractor) from Arizona's transaction
privilege tax."
Oral Argument
(Real Audio)
Oral Opinion
(RealAudio)
U.S. Supreme Court Indian Law Decisions 1997-1998 Term
Six Indian law cases were decided by the Supreme Court in the
1997-1998 term.
Cass County, MN, et al. v. Leech Lake Band Of Chippewa Indians
(No. 97-174),
524 U.S. 103 (1998), reversed in part
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Thomas)
Argued February 24, 1998 — Decided June 8, 1998
May state and local governments tax reservation land that was made
alienable by Congress and sold to non-Indians by the Federal Government
but was later repurchased by a tribe? In a unanimous opinion the Court
held that ad valorem taxes may be imposed upon such land. "When Congress
makes Indian reservation land freely alienable, it manifests an
unmistakably clear intent to render such land subject to state and local
taxation," wrote Justice Thomas. Repurchasing the land by an Indian
tribe does not return the land to tax-exempt status. Justice Thomas
concluded that "[t]he eight parcels at issue here were therefore taxable
unless and until they were restored to federal trust protection."
Oral
Argument (Real Audio)
Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma v. Manufacturing Technologies, Inc. (No.
96-1037),
523 U.S. 751 (1998), reversed
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Kennedy) | Dissent
(Stevens)
Argued January 12, 1998 — Decided May 26, 1998
May Indian tribes be sued in state courts for breaches of contract
involving off-reservation commercial conduct? The Court held that Indian
tribes enjoy sovereign immunity from civil suits on contracts, whether
those contracts involve governmental or commercial activities and
whether they were made on or off a reservation. Noting that an Indian
tribe is subject to suit only where Congress has authorized the suit or
the tribe has waived its immunity, Justice Kennedy deferred to Congress,
which has not abrogated a tribe's immunity from civil suits on
contracts. In a dissenting opinion, in which Justices Clarence Thomas
and Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined, Justice John Paul Stevens argued that
the Court should consider "whether a tribe is immune from a suit that
has no meaningful nexus to the Tribe's land or its sovereign functions."
Transcripted
Oral Argument (Real Audio)
Montana v. Crow Tribe of Indians (No. 96-1829),
523 U.S. 696 (1998), reversed and remanded
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Ginsburg)
| Other
(Souter)
Argued February 24, 1998 — Decided May 18, 1998
Is the restitution sought for the Crow Tribe from the State of Montana for
the illegal collection of taxes and coal mined on the Tribe's
reservation warranted? No. The Court held that the restitution sought
for the Tribe of all severance and gross proceeds taxes paid by
Westmoreland to Montana and certain counties, before the tribe's
severance tax became valid, was not warranted. The Court decision was
based on findings that Westmoreland had forfeited its entitlement to a
refund, that neither the state nor the tribe enjoyed authority to tax to
the total exclusion of the other, and that the tribe could not have
taxed the company during the periods in question. The Court also
concluded that the District Court had ruled properly where the tribe and
the U.S. had argued for total disgorgement rather than a different form
of relief. In a partial dissent in which Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
joined, Justice David H. Souter argued that nothing disentitled the
tribe at least to press for disgorgement of some or all of Montana's tax
revenues.
Oral Argument (Real Audio)
Alaska v. Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government, et al.
(No. 96-1577),
522 U.S. 520 (1998), reversed
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Thomas)
Argued December 10, 1997 — Decided February 25, 1998
Is the land owned by the Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government
"Indian country" pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act?
No. In a unanimous opinion delivered by Justice Clarence Thomas, the
Court held that the Tribe's land is not "Indian country." "As noted,
only one Indian reservation, the Annette Island Reserve, survived ANCSA,"
explained Justice Thomas in a footnote, [o]ther Indian country exists in
Alaska post-ANCSA only if the land in question meets the requirements of
a 'dependent Indian community' under our interpretation of [18 USC
section 1151 (b)], or if it constitutes 'allotments' under [18 USC
section 1151 (c)]." "The Tribe's ANCSA lands do not satisfy either of
these requirements," concluded Justice Thomas, "[a]fter the enactment of
ANCSA, the Tribe's lands are neither 'validly set apart for the use of
the Indians as such,' nor are they under the superintendence of the
Federal Government."
Transcripted
Oral Argument (Real Audio)
South Dakota v. Yankton Sioux Tribe (No. 96-1581),
522 U.S. 329 (1998), reversed and remanded
Syllabus
| Opinion
(O'Connor)
Argued December 8, 1997 — Decided January 26, 1998
Did Congress diminish the boundaries of the Yankton Sioux Reservation in
South Dakota in an 1894 statute that ratified an agreement pursuant to the Dawes
Act, which permitted the Government to open reservation land to non-Indian
settlement? Yes. In a unanimous opinion delivered by Justice Sandra Day
O'Connor, the Court held that the 1894 statute's operative language and the
circumstances surrounding its passage demonstrate that Congress intended to
diminish the Yankton Reservation and as a result the unallotted lands ceded did
not retain reservation status. Consequently, because the unallotted lands
included the landfill site, which no longer constituted Indian country as
defined by 18 USCS 1151(a), South Dakota has primary jurisdiction over the
lands. Noting the repudiation of allotment philosophy, Justice O'Connor wrote
that, "we must give effect to Congress' intent in passing the 1894 Act. Here...
we believe that Congress spoke clearly, and although 'some might wish [it] had
spoken differently... we cannot remake history.'"
Transcripted Oral
Argument (Real Audio)
Idaho v. Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Idaho (No.
94-1474),
521 U.S. 261 (1997)
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Kennedy)
| Concurrence
(O'Connor)
| Dissent
(Souter)
Argued October 16, 1996 — Decided June 23, 1997
May Indian Tribes proceed with suits against state officials in light of
the sovereign immunity provided by the Eleventh Amendment? No. The Court ruled
that the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's suit against the state officials may not proceed
in federal court because States enjoy Eleventh Amendment immunity in suits filed
by Indian tribes. Justice Kennedy concluded, "the present suit is barred unless
it falls within the exception this Court has recognized for certain suits
seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against state officers in their
individual capacities."
U.S. Supreme Court Indian Law Decisions 1996-1997 Term
Two Indian Law Decisions were handed down this term.
Strate, et al. v. A-1 Contractors, et al. (No. 95-1872), 520
U.S. 438 (1997)
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Ginsburg)
Argued January 7, 1997 — Decided April 28, 1997
Does a tribal court have jurisdiction over a civil action against an
allegedly negligent driver and the driver's employer, neither of whom is
a member of the tribe, when an accident occurs on a portion of a public
highway maintained by the State under a federally granted right of way
over Indian reservation land? No. In an unanimous decision, the Court
ruled that when an accident occurs on a public highway maintained by the
State pursuant to a federally granted right of way over Indian
reservation land, a civil action against allegedly negligent nonmembers
falls within state or federal regulatory and adjudicatory governance;
absent a statute or treaty authorizing the tribe to govern the conduct
of nonmembers driving on the State's highway, tribal courts may not
exercise jurisdiction in such cases.
Oral Argument
(Real Audio)
Babbitt, Secretary of the Interior et al. v. Youpee, Sr., et al.
(No. 95-1595),
519 U.S. 234 (1997)
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Ginsburg)
| Dissent
(Stevens)
Argued December 2, 1996 — Decided January 21, 1997
Although amended by the U.S. Congress to address possible constitutional
infirmities prior to the Court's ruling in Hodel
v. Irving, 481 U.S. 704 (1987), the Court holds that the 1984
amendments to the Indian Land Consolidation Act so severely restrict the
right of an individual to direct the descent of his property as to
constitute a Fifth Amendment taking of property without just compensation.
Transcripted
Oral Argument (Real Audio)
U.S. Supreme Court Indian Law Decisions 1995-1996 Term
One Indian Law Decision was handed down this term.
Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida, et al. (No. 94-12),
517 U.S. 44 (1996)
Syllabus |
Opinion (Rehnquist) |
Dissent (Stevens) |
Dissent (Souter)
Argued: October 11, 1995 — Decided:
March 27, 1996
The Court held that under the U.S. Constitution's Indian commerce clause,
the U.S. Congress does not have the power to abrogate the states' Eleventh
Amendment sovereign immunity from suit; the Court overrules its decision
in Pennsylvania
v. Union Gas Co., 491 U.S. 1; and the Court further holds that the
Eleventh Amendment prevents Congress from authorizing suits in federal
court by Indian tribes against states to enforce the provision in the
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) requiring states to negotiate in good
faith. Oral
Argument
U.S. Supreme Court Indian Law Decisions 1994-1995 Term
One Indian Law Decision was handed down this term.
Oklahoma Tax Comm'n v. Chickasaw Nation (No. 94-771),
515 U.S. 450 (1995)
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Ginsburg)
| Other (Breyer)
Argued April 24, 1995 — Decided
June 14, 1995
Absent clear congressional authorization, a State is without power to tax
reservation lands and reservation Indians. If it is a tribe or tribal
members inside Indian country who bear the tax burden, the tax cannot be
enforced absent federal legislation permitting it. The motor fuels tax
issue is determined by whether the tax rests on the Tribe as retailer,
on the wholesaler who sells to the Tribe or the consumer who buys from
the Tribe. The Court of Appeals' ruling that the fuels tax's legal
incidence rests on the retailer is reasonable and the tax cannot be
applied. On the income tax issue, Oklahoma may tax the income of tribal
members who work for the Tribe but reside in the State outside Indian
Country.
U.S. Supreme Court Indian Law Decisions 1993-1994 Term
One Indian Law Decision was handed down this term.
Hagen v. Utah (No. 92-6281),
510 U.S. 399 (1994)
Syllabus
| Opinion
(O'Connor)
| Dissent
(Blackmun)
Argued November 2, 1993 — Decided February 23, 1994
Petitioner, an Indian, was charged in state court with distribution of a
controlled substance in the town of Myton, which lies within the original
boundaries of the Uintah Indian Reservation on land that was opened to
non-Indian settlement in 1905. Because the Uintah Reservation has been
diminished by Congress, the town of Myton is not in Indian country and the
Utah courts properly exercised criminal jurisdiction.
U.S. Supreme Court Indian Law Decisions 1992-1993 Term
Four Indian Law Decisions were handed down this term.
South Dakota v. Bourland (No. 91-2051),
508 U.S. 679 (1993)
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Thomas)
| Dissent
(Blackmun)
Argued March 2, 1993 — Decided
June 14, 1993
Congress, in the Flood Control and Cheyenne River Acts, abrogated the
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe's rights under the Fort Laramie Treaty to
regulate non-Indian hunting and fishing on lands taken by the United
States for construction of the Oahe Dam and Reservoir.
Lincoln v. Vigil (No. 91-1833),
508 U.S. 182 (1993)
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Souter)
Argued March 3, 1993 — Decided
May 24, 1993
The Indian Health Service receives yearly lump-sum appropriations from
Congress, and had funded the Indian Children's Program, which provided
clinical services to handicapped Indian children in the Southwest. In
1985, the Service announced that it was discontinuing direct clinical
services under the Program in order to establish a nationwide treatment
program. Respondents, Indian children eligible to receive services under
the Program, filed this action alleging, inter alia, violation of the
federal trust responsibility to Indians, and the Fifth Amendment's Due
Process Clause. The Court held that it is a fundamental principle of
appropriations law that where Congress merely appropriates lump-sum
amounts without statutory restriction, a clear inference may be drawn that
it does not intend to impose legally binding restrictions. As long as the
agency allocates the funds to meet permissible statutory objectives,
courts may not intrude.
Oklahoma Tax Comm'n v. Sac & Fox Nation (No. 92-259),
508 U.S. 114 (1993)
Syllabus
| Opinion
(O'Connor)
Argued March 23, 1993 — Decided
May 17, 1993
The Sac and Fox Nation brought this action seeking a permanent injunction
barring petitioner Oklahoma Tax Commission from, among other things,
taxing the income of tribal members who work or reside within tribal
jurisdiction, and imposing the State's motor vehicle excise tax and
registration fees on tribal members who live and garage their cars
principally on tribal land and register those cars with the Tribe. Absent
explicit congressional direction to the contrary, it must be presumed that
a State does not have jurisdiction to tax tribal members who live and work
in Indian country, whether the particular territory consists of a formal
or informal reservation, allotted lands, or dependent Indian communities.
Negonsott v. Samuels (No. 91-5397),
507 U.S. 99 (1993)
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Rehnquist)
Argued January 11, 1993 — Decided February 24, 1993
A member of the Kickapoo Tribe, and a resident of reservation, was
convicted by state jury for shooting another Indian on the reservation. A
lower court set aside the conviction on the ground of exclusive federal
jurisdiction to prosecute under the Indian Major Crimes Act, 18 U. S. C.
1153. The Court restored the conviction, ruling that the Kansas Act
explicitly confers jurisdiction on Kansas over all offenses involving
Indians on Indian reservations. Congress has plenary authority to alter
the otherwise exclusive nature of federal jurisdiction and has done so by
that Act.
No Indian Law Decisions were handed down in 1991-1992 term.
U.S. Supreme Court Indian Law Decisions 1990-1991 Term
Two Indian Law Decisions were handed down this term.
Blatchford v. Native Village of Noatak (No. 89-1782),
501 U.S. 775 (1991)
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Scalia) | Dissent
(Blackmun, Marshall, Stevens)
Argued February 19, 1991 — Decided June 24, 1991
Several Alaska Native villages, brought suit seeking an order requiring
payment to them of money allegedly owed under a state revenue-sharing
statute. The Court ruled that the Eleventh Amendment bars suits by Indian
tribes against States without their consent. The argument that traditional
principles of sovereign immunity restrict suits only by individuals, and
not by other sovereigns, was rejected.
Oklahoma Tax Comm'n v. Citizen Band Potawatomi Indian Tribe of
Okla. (No. 89-1322),
498 U.S. 505 (1991)
Syllabus
| Opinion
(Rehnquist)
|
Concurrence (Stevens)
Argued January 7, 1991 — Decided February 26, 1991
For many years, the Tribe sold cigarettes at a convenience store that it
owned and operated in Oklahoma on land held in trust for it by the Federal
Government. It has never collected state cigarette tax on these sales. In
1987, the Oklahoma Tax Commission served the Tribe with an assessment
letter, demanding that it pay taxes on cigarette sales occurring between
1982 and 1986. Under the doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity, a State
may not tax sales of goods to tribesmen occurring on land held in trust
for a federally recognized Indian tribe, but is free to collect taxes on
such sales to nonmembers of the tribe. The Tribe did not waive its
inherent sovereign immunity from suit merely by seeking an injunction
against the tax assessment.
The National Indian Law
Library has an excellent section on Supreme
Court Cases including:
Supreme Court Decision Search
The National Tribal
Justice Resource Center has a Searchable
Database of U.S. Supreme Court Decisions.
Search
for the following U.S.
Supreme Court Decisions at the Legal
Information Institute at Cornell
Law School.
All audio links on this page link directly to the The
OYEZ Project, which provides access to more
than 2000 hours of Supreme Court audio. All audio in the Court recorded since
1995 is included in the project. Before 1995, the audio collection is selective.
It remains the aim of the OYEZ Project to
create a complete and authoritative archive of Supreme Court audio covering the
entire span from October 1955 through the most recent release.
U. S. Courts of Appeals
The 94 U.S. judicial districts are organized into 12 regional circuits, each
of which has a United States court of appeals. A court of appeals hears appeals
from the district courts located within its circuit, as well as appeals from
decisions of federal administrative agencies. In addition, the Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit has nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals in
specialized cases, such as those involving patent laws and cases decided by the Court
of International Trade and the Court
of Federal Claims.
The
Oklahoma State
University Library Electronic Publishing Center has digitized
Volumes 30-43 of
the Indian Claims Commission Decisions. The
National Indian Law Library
contains a complete set of all volumes from this set with a variety of indexes.
Created by Congress in 1946 to adjudicate Indian claims against the United
States, the Indian Claims Commission awarded more than a half billion dollars
before its expiration almost 33 years later in 1978. It also created hundreds of
thousands of pages of documents, most of which have significant historical
research value.
Interior Board of Indian Appeals
decisions have been posted from its inception in 1970 through January 29, 2004
(this is an unofficial site and is not associated in any way with the Department
of the Interior).
The University of Oklahoma Law Center
and the National Indian Law
Library (NILL) have posted
Opinions of the Solicitor of the Department of
the Interior relating to Indian Affairs (1917-1974).
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