Mealey's Native American Law : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Native American Law

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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
October 17, 2022
Tribal Appeals Court Upholds Transfer Of Youth Offender To Montana Court

PABLO, Mont. — A tribal court correctly followed tribal law when it transferred the case of a homeless tribal teen with a long criminal history who “was failed by the system” to a Montana youth court for placement in long-term detention, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Court of Appeals held in affirming the trial court’s ruling.
October 12, 2022
Oklahoma Prisoner’s Habeas Bid Based On McGirt Too Late, Federal Judge Rules

TULSA, Okla. — An Oklahoma state court criminal defendant waited too long to seek habeas relief based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Oklahoma v. McGirt that most of the state is still Indian country, a federal judge ruled Oct. 11 in dismissing the petition with prejudice.
October 12, 2022
Cert Sought For 9th Circuit Ruling That Appeal Over Tribal Sacred Site Is Moot

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ rejection as moot of an appeal by Native Americans of dismissal of their lawsuit over the destruction of a sacred site for a highway expansion in Oregon should be reversed based on a misreading of the law, the plaintiffs/appellants say in a petition for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court.
October 12, 2022
Federal Judge Stays Wrongful Death Suit Against Indian Health Services Doctors

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A Montana federal judge refused to dismiss a Native American’s lawsuit seeking damages for the death of his brother after being treated at an Indian Health Services (IHS) hospital but instead stayed the action to allow the plaintiff time to pursue an administrative claim first with the Montana Medical Legal Panel.
October 11, 2022
Cert Denied On Oklahoma’s Request For Clear Test To Establish Indian Status

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 11 refused to take up the question presented in two petitions for certiorari filed by Oklahoma of how to determine a criminal defendant’s Indian status for purposes of the Indian Major Crimes Act.
October 10, 2022
New Mexico Federal Judge: U.S., New Mexico, Navajos Immune From Water Lawsuit

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico federal judge has granted motions by the United States, New Mexico and the Navajo Nation to dismiss a lawsuit by New Mexico residents that sought to counter a state court adjudication ruling involving Native American water rights in the state.
October 10, 2022
Judge OKs Federal Motion To Remand Rights Of Way For Private Water Pipeline

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A California federal judge granted a motion by the U.S. Department of the Interior to remand the agency’s 2020 decision to approve the use of an old natural gas pipeline to transport water across federal land, saying the government has a right to change its mind and reexamine the application.
October 10, 2022
Tribes, Groups Handed Defeat In Suit Over Pipeline Replacement In Minn., N.D.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Native American tribes and environmental groups lost their challenge to the replacement of a 282-mile section of crude oil pipeline in Minnesota and North Dakota when a District of Columbia federal judge on Oct. 7 granted the pipeline company and federal defendants summary judgment on environmental impact claims, finding that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “complied with its obligations to assess the environmental consequences associated with its permits” for the project.
October 06, 2022
Navajo Nation Says Cert Not Warranted In Dispute Over Tribe’s Water Rights

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals correctly held that the United States has a fiduciary duty to provide water for the Navajo Nation from the Colorado River, so the U.S. Supreme Court should deny petitions for review from several states and the federal government, the tribe says in its opposition to the petitions.
October 05, 2022
Split 8th Circuit Again Says South Dakota Can Tax Tribal Casino Project

ST. PAUL, Minn. — In a second appeal in a dispute over whether South Dakota’s excise tax on a building contractor for a Native American tribe’s casino project is preempted by federal law, a divided Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Oct. 4 again ruled in favor of the state, reversing summary judgment for the tribe and remanding for entry of judgment for state officials.
October 04, 2022
Argument Time Expanded For Consolidated Challenges To Indian Child Placement Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 3 extended the time for oral argument and made sure all parties have time to present their cases in a consolidated dispute over the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA).