Mealey's Native American Law
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November 17, 2022
Tribe Joins Challenge To Using Montana’s Unvaccinated Rights Law On Indian Land
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A Montana federal judge allowed the Blackfeet Nation to intervene in a lawsuit seeking a declaration that the state’s Human Rights Bureau cannot enforce a COVID-19 vaccination anti-discrimination law on tribal land.
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November 16, 2022
FLSA Does Not Apply To Health Care Consortium For Native Alaskans, Judge Holds
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An employee of a regional health care provider for Native Alaskans cannot pursue unpaid wages claims against the provider under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) because the statute “‘touches exclusive rights of [tribal] self-governance in purely intramural matters,’” a federal judge in the state held Nov. 15 in dismissing the worker’s complaint with prejudice, quoting the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ FLSA ruling in United States v. Farris.
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November 15, 2022
Judge: Blue Cross Must Produce Claims Data In Plan Dispute With Michigan Tribe
BAY CITY, Mich. — A Michigan federal judge on Nov. 14 directed an insurer in a long-running dispute with an Indian tribe over payments for certain hospital services to supplement prior disclosures with data for the health care claims at issue.
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November 15, 2022
Scholars Attack ‘Wrong Analysis’ In High Court Clash Over Tribal Sacred Site
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A trial court’s “egregiously wrong analysis and ruling on the significant religious liberty issues presented” in a dispute over the destruction of a sacred Native American site for a highway expansion in Oregon demands reversal and remand for a proper analysis, religious liberty law scholars tell the U.S. Supreme Court in an amicus curiae brief supporting review.
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November 14, 2022
Certiorari Opposed In Row Over Bankruptcy Code’s Abrogation Of Tribal Immunity
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals finding that the U.S. Bankruptcy Code abrogates Indian tribes’ sovereign immunity from suit is “firmly grounded in traditional methods of statutory interpretation and consistent with [U.S. Supreme Court] precedent on tribal immunity,” so certiorari is not warranted, a borrower who sued a Wisconsin tribe over its payday lending practices tells the high court.
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November 11, 2022
Oklahoma Can’t Regulate Coal Mining On Vast Indian Lands, Judge Says
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma can no longer regulate surface coal mining activities in most of the state because that job is now in the hands of the federal government after the U.S. Supreme Court determined in McGirt v. Oklahoma that the historical reservation of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation still exists today and is under federal jurisdiction, a U.S. district court judge in the state ruled in granting federal defendants summary judgment.
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November 09, 2022
Supreme Court Hears Pros, Cons Of Indian Child Placement Law
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The constitutionality of a 1978 federal law designed to keep Native American adoptive and foster children with their Indian tribes was debated Nov. 9 before the U.S. Supreme Court in a three-plus-hour oral argument session for four consolidated cases.
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November 08, 2022
Crow Tribe Member Says Cert Not Needed For Utility’s Jurisdiction Challenge
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The question of whether an electricity cooperative is subject to a tribal regulation that bars the termination of residential service during the winter is not appropriate for U.S. Supreme Court review because the co-op has forfeited its chief arguments and there is no circuit split on the issue, a member of the Crow Tribe in Montana who had his power shut off in winter tells the high court in a Nov. 7 response brief filed at the court’s request.
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November 07, 2022
Oregon Seeks Remand Of Ranch Complaint Alleging Tribe’s Rights Took Its Water
MEDFORD, Ore. — After removing a complaint claiming that tribal water rights result in the uncompensated taking of a ranch’s property, the state of Oregon reversed course and moved to remand the case from federal to state court due to a dispute over whether removal took place within the specified time range.
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November 07, 2022
4 Years Later, Parties In Gila River Groundwater Case Still Not Talking Settlement
TUCSON, Ariz. — Parties in a lawsuit by a Native American tribe alleging that six individuals are using groundwater from the Gila River in Arizona without authorization tell a federal court that they continue to not be engaged in settlement discussions.
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November 07, 2022
Woman Takes Suit Against Officer Who Killed Brother To Fort Belknap Tribal Court
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A tribal member is heading to tribal court to litigate her wrongful death civil rights claims against the Fort Belknap Indian Community police officer who shot and killed her brother after a Montana federal magistrate judge on Nov. 4 granted her motion to dismiss her claims in favor of tribal court exhaustion.
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November 04, 2022
Supreme Court Grants Certiorari For Navajo Water Rights Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 4 granted two petitions for certiorari seeking a determination on whether the United States’ trust relationship with the Navajo Nation requires it to oversee the tribe’s right to use water from the Colorado River.
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November 03, 2022
Groups Oppose Agencies’ ‘Flawed’ Reaffirmation Of Trump-Era Fracking Decisions
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A Native American group and environmental advocacy organizations have filed a petition in New Mexico federal court seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for its decision to reaffirm the “flawed authorization” of the Trump administration that issued hydraulic fracturing leases for 42 parcels of land and approved approximately 120 applications for permit to drill (APDs).
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November 03, 2022
South Dakota Tribe Seeks Rehearing By Full 8th Circuit In Tax Dispute With State
ST. PAUL, Minn. — An Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel incorrectly applied U.S. Supreme Court decisions and issued a divided ruling that conflicts with circuit court precedents, a Native American tribe says in a petition for rehearing en banc in its fight against South Dakota’s imposition of an excise tax on a building contractor for the tribe’s casino.
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November 02, 2022
CVS Pharmacy Agrees To Settle State Opioid Lawsuits For $5B Over 10 Years
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Pharmacy chain CVS Health Corp. on Nov. 2 said it has agreed in principle to settle all opioid lawsuits and claims by states, municipalities and Native American tribes for about $5 billion.
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November 02, 2022
DOI Says Indian Canon Of Construction Ruling Warrants Reconsideration
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge needs to redo her recent summary judgment ruling in a California Indian tribe’s fight to have a piece of land approved by the Department of the Interior (DOI) for a casino because she incorrectly held that the “Indian canon of construction” applies to the agency’s decisions, the DOI says in a motion for reconsideration.
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November 02, 2022
Walgreen Pharmacy Has Tentative $4.79B Opioid Pact With States, Municipalities
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Pharmacy chain Walgreen Co. announced in a Nov. 2 regulatory filing that it has agreed in principle to settle a “substantial” number of opioid lawsuits filed by state attorneys general, political subdivisions and Native American tribes for about $4.79 billion paid out over 15 years.
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November 01, 2022
Judgment Denied For New York Inmate’s Native American Religion Claims
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — An inmate in a New York prison is not entitled to summary judgment on the issue of liability for violation of his right to freely exercise his Native American religion because he did not show that his religious beliefs were substantially burdened, a federal judge held Oct. 31.
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October 31, 2022
9th Circuit Upholds Dismissal Of Suit Over Wind Farm On California Reservation
PASADENA, Calif. — Environmental justice plaintiffs in California cannot challenge a lease for a proposed 72-turbine wind farm on tribal land because the tribe is a necessary party to the dispute but cannot be sued due to its sovereign immunity, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held in affirming dismissal of the action.
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October 28, 2022
2nd Suit Filed Over Lack Of Federal Funding For Tribal Police
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A second Indian tribe has sued the U.S. government in federal court over a lack of adequate funding for police services on the reservation, saying the government continues to breach its treaty and statutory duties to the tribe by not allocating enough police funding at a time when crime on the tribe’s Montana reservation is on the rise.
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October 28, 2022
Tribe Asks Court To Order U.S. Government To Fund More Police
RAPID CITY, S.D. — The Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota has asked a federal court to force the U.S. government to immediately provide the tribe with enough police funding to combat a rise in crime that has caused an “ongoing public safety crisis” on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
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October 26, 2022
Ex-Tribal Official In North Dakota Pleads Guilty To Taking Bribes From Contractor
FARGO, N.D. — A former government official for a North Dakota Indian tribe pleaded guilty Oct. 25 in federal court to a bribery scheme in which he admitted to soliciting and accepting bribes and kickbacks from a contractor providing construction services on the tribe’s reservation, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in a news release.
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October 24, 2022
Most Defendants Survive Dismissal In Retaliation Suit By Anti-Repatriation Prof
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge declined to dismiss four of six San Jose State University (SJSU) defendants from a lawsuit by an anthropology professor alleging that school officials retaliated against her and violated her free speech rights for her opposition to the repatriation of Native American remains.
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October 20, 2022
Department Of Justice Files Native American Bias Suit Against South Dakota Hotel
RAPID CITY, S.D. — The U.S. Department of Justice on Oct. 19 sued a South Dakota hotel and its owners in federal court, saying they violated Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by not allowing Native Americans on the premises.
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October 18, 2022
Tribal Sovereign Immunity Vital For Indian Businesses, Supreme Court Told
WASHINGTON, D.C. — With tribal sovereign immunity being so crucial to the economic development of Indian tribes, the U.S. Supreme Court should step in and end a split among the nation’s circuit courts by finding that the U.S. Bankruptcy Code does not abrogate the tribes’ immunity, a Native American advocacy group tells the high court in an amicus curiae brief.