Spokane Indian Tribe v. Sulgrove (United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit) The Court dismissed an appeal to a District Court decision, finding that the Plaintiff, Spokane Indian Tribe, had a senior water right to most other objector water users (landowners) because the objectors could not claim a redressable injury caused by the modification of the judgement. Topics: Water Rights Oertwich v. Traditional Village of Togiak (United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit) Plaintiff appeals a lower court decision to dismiss his complaint against tribal officials for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Plaintiff sued to challenge his banishment after being caught importing alcohol. Court affirms tribal immunity, but remands for reconsideration of §1983 claims against tribal officials. After this case was heard and opinion issued by the 9 th Circuit, the Court withdrew their earlier March 2022 opinion and dismissed the appeal. Topics: Tribal Sovereign Immunity; Banishment Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe v. Houdyshell (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit) The Court held that IGRA did not preempt South Dakota’s imposition of an excise tax on work performed by a non-member contractor at a casino on the Flandreau Indian Reservation under the Bracker balancing test because the extent of federal regulation over casino construction on tribal land was minimal, the excise tax on the tribal interests was minimal, and the state had a strong interest in raising revenue to provide essential government services to its citizens, including tribal members. The Court also held that the Indian Trader Statutes did not preempt the excise tax expressly or under the Bracker balancing test. Topics: IGRA; Excise Tax; Indian Trader Statutes Lac Courte Orielles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wis. v. Evers (United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit) The Seventh Circuit reversed a district court judgement that permitted the State of Wisconsin to tax tribal lands, which were sold by past tribal owners to non-Indians before coming back into tribal ownership, because the one-time act of alienating reservation property to a non-Indian did not surrender the parcel’s tax immunity for all time. The Court found that the state did not have power to tax lands owned by tribal members even though the parcels were fully alienable. Topics: Taxation; Tribal Lands Hawk v. Burr (United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit) Plaintiff Hawk sued Defendants in response to a Notice of Trespass issued against him by one of the defendants, Baker. Baker is the Superintendent of the BIA, and both Hawk and Burr are apparently members of the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe of Indians. Baker filed a motion to dismiss alleging that Hawk’s claims are not ripe for adjudication and that the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. The District Court dismissed the suit, and the 7 th Circuit affirmed the judgement because the claim was not ripe without a final agency decision from the BIA. The 7 th Circuit also denied the Plaintiff’s motion to stay because he did not identify a jurisdictional basis for a claim against the defendant. Topics: Bureau of Indian Affairs; Trespassing Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians v. United States DOI (U.S. District Court for D.C.) The Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians brought an action under the APA claiming that the DOI acted arbitrarily and capriciously in tan opinion that found that a parcel of land would not qualify for gaming under the restored lands exception of IGRA, thereby rendering the land ineligible for use as a gaming property. The Court looked at whether the agency “considered the relevant factors and articulated a rational connection between the facts found and the choice made.” While the ILO provided a reasoned basis for
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