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Attorney: Richard Guest
Case Update
The Tribal Supreme Court Project is part of the Tribal Sovereignty Protection Initiative and is staffed by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). The Project was formed in 2001 in response to a series of U.S. Supreme Court cases that negatively affected tribal sovereignty. The purpose of the Project is to promote greater coordination and to improve strategy on litigation that may affect the rights of all Indian tribes. We encourage Indian tribes and their attorneys to contact the Project in our effort to coordinate resources, develop strategy and prepare briefs, especially at the time of the petition for a writ of certiorari, prior to the Supreme Court accepting a case for review.
On April 14, 2008, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land and Cattle Company, a case involving a challenge to the jurisdiction of Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Court over claims by tribal members against a non-Indian bank doing business on the reservation. The question presented by the petitioner, Plains Commerce Bank, is: "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." Throughout the proceeding in the federal courts, the Bank has only challenged the tribal court's jurisdiction over the discrimination (tort) claim, leaving the breach of contract and bad faith claims unchallenged.
NARF represents the Long family as pro-bono co-counsel before the Supreme Court. NCAI took the lead for the Project to develop a tribal amicus brief strategy which included briefs submitted by the U.S. Solicitor's General Office, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, the National American Indian Court Judges Association, and others in support of affirming tribal court jurisdiction. The Bank was supported by several groups, including the State of Idaho (joined by eight other states: Alaska, Florida, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin), the American Bankers Association, the Association of American Railroads, and the Mountain States Legal Foundation. After oral argument, the Project is "cautiously optimistic." At least some members of the Court seem willing to say that based on the facts of this case, the tribal court has jurisdiction. The Court's decision is expected by the end of June 2008.
You can find Update
Memoranda and copies of
briefs and opinions on the major cases we track on the NARF
website.
Articles and Materials
What is the Tribal Supreme Court Project?
Update Memoranda of Cases
Online Archive of Court Documents
Glossary of Terms
We Stand United Before the Court -- by Tracy Labin, 37 New Eng. L. Rev. 695 (2002)
Supreme Court Bulletins (National Indian Law Library)
Links to Other Websites
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