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Mealey's Native American Law

March 11, 2024
10th Circuit: McGirt Does Not Require Murder Evidence To Be Suppressed

DENVER — A trial court did not err in denying a man’s motion to suppress evidence in a trial against him for murder because the law enforcement officers who investigated the crime in 2004 acted in good faith in believing that the land on which the crime was committed was not a part of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, a legal error that was not well understood until a U.S. Supreme Court’s decision clarified the issue in 2020, a 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held in affirming the trial court’s judgment.
March 11, 2024
Tribal Panel Affirms Denial Of Habeas Corpus Petition In Murder Case

POPLAR, Mont. — A man who was charged with murder and released on bond in the Fort Peck Tribal Court without the presence of an attorney is not entitled to a writ of habeas corpus because the record does not show that he was indigent and therefore entitled to a court-appointed attorney, a Fort Peck Appellate Court panel found in affirming the trial court’s judgment.
March 08, 2024
8th Circuit: Agency Did Not Err In Approving Drilling Near Tribal Water Source

ST. LOUIS — The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) did not act arbitrarily or capriciously by approving several permits for oil and natural gas extraction under a reservoir that serves as the only source of drinking water for the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation (MHA) because the agency met all administrative requirements in approving the project, an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming a trial court’s judgment.
March 06, 2024
In Tribal Health Care Funding Dispute, D.C. Federal Judge Grants Summary Judgment

WASHINGTON, D.C. — There is no genuine dispute of material fact regarding the Indian Health Service’s (IHS) decision to reject certain duplicative funding elements for the lease of a hospital owned and operated by the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians because the agency was correct in rejecting the tribe’s funding proposal based on federal regulations governing such lease agreements, a District of Columbia federal judge held in granting summary judgment to the agency.
March 05, 2024
N.M. Panel Affirms Agency’s Findings Regarding Sludge Dumping On Tribal Land

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) did not err in finding that the operator of a luxury hotel violated several state environmental laws by dumping wastewater sludge onto tribal land because the administrative record supports the findings, a New Mexico appeals panel found in affirming the agency’s decision.
March 04, 2024
Federal Circuit: Acquisition Of Trust Land For Casino Did Not Amount To A Taking

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States’ acquisition of trust land in Oklahoma on behalf of the Cherokee Nation did not amount to a taking of an adjacent property because the property owner failed to allege that the United States was affirmatively involved in constructing a hotel and casino on the trust land, which allegedly caused flooding of the adjacent property, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming a U.S. Federal Claims Court judgment.
March 01, 2024
Tribal Court Has Jurisdiction Over Tribe’s Coronavirus Coverage Suit, 9th Circuit Affirms

SEATTLE — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 29 affirmed a lower federal court’s finding that a tribal court has subject matter jurisdiction over a coronavirus coverage suit involving tribal properties on tribal land that the Suquamish Tribe brought against “nonmember, off-reservation” insurers that participate in a program that is tailored to and offered exclusively to tribes.
March 01, 2024
Termination Over COVID-19 Policy Was Not Tied To Man’s Native American Heritage

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey county and local union are entitled to summary judgment on claims brought against them by a man who says he was terminated from his employment with the county because of his Native American “cultural” opposition to a COVID-19 vaccination policy because the man failed to show that the termination was related to his race or national identity, a New Jersey federal judge found Feb. 29 in granting the county’s and union’s summary judgment motions.
March 01, 2024
In Protective Order Dispute, 10th Circuit Says Tribal Police Officers Are Immune

DENVER — Choctaw Nation police officers sued by a Cherokee woman who alleged that the officers failed to enforce a protective order issued by the Choctaw Nation District Court against her non-tribal neighbor are entitled to tribal sovereign immunity from the woman’s claims because the allegations implicate the officers in their official capacity, a 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming a trial court’s decision to dismiss the pro se plaintiff’s claims.
March 01, 2024
Following Consent Decree, S.D. Federal Judge Closes Native American Bias Case

RAPID CITY, S.D. — Nearly two months after entering a consent decree signed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and owners and managers of a hotel who allegedly discriminated against Native Americans, a South Dakota federal judge administratively closed the case filed against the owners and managers.
February 28, 2024
5th Circuit: Prosecutor In Reservation Shooting Case Should Not Have Been Recused

NEW ORLEANS — A federal trial court did not err in declining to recuse an assistant U.S. attorney for an alleged conflict of interest in a criminal trial arising from a shooting on an Indian reservation in Mississippi because the attorney’s previous representation of the defendant was not substantially related to the current case, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming the defendant’s conviction and sentencing.
February 28, 2024
Man Who Operated Illegal Tribal Casino Failed To Timely File Malpractice Claim

CANTON, Ohio — A man who was arrested for illegally operating a tribal casino upon the advice of an attorney failed to timely file his legal malpractice claim within the applicable one-year statute of limitations because he should have been aware that the advice he received was incorrect when he was indicted, an Ohio panel found in affirming a trial court’s judgment.
February 28, 2024
Tribe Asks Court To Enjoin Federal ‘Death Blow’ To Its Cigarette Sales

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A tribe filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in California federal court seeking to bar the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and other federal law enforcement officials and agencies from deeming it out of compliance with the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act, writing that such actions would “strike a death blow” to its business operations as an “on-reservation tribally-owned retailer.”
February 22, 2024
Interior, Tribes, Water Users Agree To Cooperate On Klamath Basin Projects

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), the Klamath Tribes, the Yurok Tribe, the Karuk Tribe and the Klamath Water Users Association have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate and cooperate on water-related efforts in the Klamath Basin, according to an announcement by the DOI.
February 15, 2024
HOA’s Covenants Don’t Attach To Tribal Land Taken Into Trust, Federal Judge Says

GREEN BAY, Wis.— Restrictive covenants adopted by a homeowners association were preempted by federal law when several parcels of land within the association were purchased by a member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and later transferred to the United States to be held in trust on behalf of the tribe, a Wisconsin federal judge found in dismissing the association’s action for judicial review.
February 14, 2024
1st Circuit Decision On Tribal Trust Land Challenged In U.S. Supreme Court

BOSTON — A group of Massachusetts residents have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals erred in finding that the U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) decision to take into trust land owned by the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe was not arbitrary or capricious or not in accordance with the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA).
February 14, 2024
Citizen Group Challenges Approval Of Tribal Casino In U.S. Supreme Court

SAN FRANCISCO — A citizen group filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court asking whether the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals erred in affirming a trial court judgment dismissing the group’s challenge to a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) decision to approve the construction of a casino on land held in trust for the Ione Band of Miwok Indians.
February 13, 2024
Florida Casinos Challenge Tribal Sports Gambling Pact In U.S. Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two casino operators have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to consider whether the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals erred in finding that a gaming compact between Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida granting the tribe exclusive rights to offer sports betting services in the state was lawful.
February 13, 2024
2 Tribes File Climate Change Claims In Washington State Court

SEATTLE — The Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe and the Makah Indian Tribe of Washington, two federally recognized Indian tribes, have filed nearly identical complaints against several of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, alleging that the companies’ efforts to mislead the public about the dangers of fossil fuel products have accelerated the harmful effects of climate change, which have in turn damaged the tribes’ people and land.
February 08, 2024
Tribal Telecom Company Is Entitled To Sovereign Immunity, Texas Federal Judge Says

HOUSTON — A tribal telecommunications service provider is entitled to tribal sovereign immunity because it is connected enough to the Gila River Indian Community to be a considered an “arm of the tribe,” a Texas federal judge found in granting the service provider’s motion to dismiss claims brought against it by a software developer that worked with the service provider and says it has not been paid for months.
February 07, 2024
Washington Federal Judge: Cultural Resource Damages Not Available Under CERCLA

SPOKANE, Wash. — The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation are not entitled to cultural resource damages arising from a smelter’s alleged disposal of millions of tons of toxic slag and liquid effluent into the Columbia River because such damages are not available under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, a Washington federal judge found in granting the smelter’s motion for partial summary judgment on Feb. 6.
February 07, 2024
Attorneys Debate Authority, Consideration Of Options In Willow Project Approval

SAN FRANCISCO — Attorneys for environmental groups and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) debated before the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals regarding whether the BLM’s approval of the Willow Project, a hydraulic fracturing operation in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, violated the agency’s obligations under federal law. The attorney representing the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) said the BLM is “supposed to look before they leap.”
February 07, 2024
N.Y. Federal Judge Dismisses Native American Man’s Discriminatory Housing Claims

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A Native American man who says he was evicted from a housing unit because of his identity failed to allege that his landlord acted with any kind of discriminatory intent in his original complaint or his motion to amend, a New York federal judge held in adopting a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation to grant the landlord’s motion for judgment on the pleadings.
February 07, 2024
In Gold King Mine Case, Contractor Is Granted Summary Judgment On Negligence Claims

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A government contractor is entitled to summary judgment on claims of negligence and gross negligence brought against it for its involvement in the Gold King Mine release, which damaged waterways and land in several states, because the contractor owed no duty to New Mexico, the Navajo Nation or citizen plaintiffs under theories of misfeasance or nonfeasance, a New Mexico federal judge found in granting the contractor’s motion for partial summary judgment.
February 06, 2024
3 Complaints Filed Against California’s Delta Water Conveyance Project

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Three lawsuits were filed by a water district, environmental groups and a Native American tribe asking a California state court to set aside state approval for the Delta Conveyance Project and to order the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in evaluating the environmental impact of the planned water project in the state’s Delta region.