Native American Law Report articles from March 2005

Native American Law Report archives from March 2005

The U.S. government must pay.(Slants & Trends)
March 1, 2005... THE U.S. GOVERNMENT MUST PAY the full contract support costs of federal programs administered by Indian tribes under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, the Supreme Court has ruled. The March 1 decision brings...

Deja vu? Ex-interior department.(Slants & Trends)(William Myers III appointed at Department of the Interior)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... DEJA VU? EX-INTERIOR DEPARTMENT attorney William Myers III has been re-nominated in the president's latest submission of appointees to federal appeals courts. Last year, Democratic senators filibustered Myers' nomination, raising concerns...

In a win for Indian plaintiffs.(Slants & Trends)
March 1, 2005... IN A WIN FOR INDIAN PLAINTIFFS in the Cobell v. Norton Indian trust fund lawsuit, the Supreme Court has rejected a petition to have U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth removed from contempt proceedings against several government officials...

Supreme Court agrees to hear dispute over fuel taxes on Indian reservation.(Taxation)(Native American reservations)
March 1, 2005... The question of whether states can tax non-Indian fuel distributors on the fuel they sell to Indian retailers will come before the Supreme Court, now that the court has granted certiorari in a dispute between Kansas and an Indian tribe. ...

Indian tribe gets $2.65 million in children's trust fund arbitration.(mishandling of a children's trust fund)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... A Wisconsin tribe has received $2.65 million for damages involving a brokerage firm's mishandling of a children's trust fund. "This case demonstrates that with perseverance a tribe can take the necessary actions to protect its children,"...

Judge reinstates court order for interior to account for Indian trust funds.(Cobell v. Norton)
March 1, 2005... Now that Congress has failed to amend trust reform legislation before the end of 2004, the Interior Department once again is facing a court order to conduct a full historical accounting of Individual Indian Money (IIM) trust accounts by 2008....

Interior secretary declines to testify over alleged withholding of checks.(Cobell v. Norton)(Gale Norton)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The Interior Department has made clear in court filings that Secretary Gale Norton will not testify over allegations that the department withheld trust checks from Indian beneficiaries in retaliation against an unfavorable court ruling. ...

New Mexico tribes seek protection of petroglyphs from highway proposal.(Petroglyph Sites)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Members of New Mexico's Pueblo tribes are suing the city of Albuquerque over a proposed highway project they say would demolish a historical site deemed sacred by many Southwestern tribes. The lawsuit was filed in the Second Judicial...

Case dismissed against park policy that protects native religious sites.(Sacred Sites)
March 1, 2005... The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case involving a state national park policy that asks visitors not to walk under a bridge because it is considered sacred to Native American tribes. DeWaal v. Alston (No. 04-367) The...

Federal government must pay full costs of tribal self-determination contracts.(Case Law Abstracts)
March 1, 2005... Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma v. Leavitt Supreme Court of the United States, No. 021472 (March 1, 2004) The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the government could not use insufficient Congressional appropriations as an excuse to...

Federal appeals court upholds decision not to instruct jury on craft regulation.(Case Law Abstracts)
March 1, 2005... Native American Arts, Inc. v. The Waldron Corporation U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Cir., No. 04-3182 (March 2, 2005) A federal appeals court has affirmed a trial judge's refusal to instruct a jury with a regulation implementing the Indian...

Land trust law protects Indian tribes recognized after time of enactment.(Case Law Abstracts)
March 1, 2005... Carcieri v. Norton U.S. Court of Appeals, 1st Cir., No. 03-2647 (February 9, 2005) A federal appeals court has ruled that the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) applied to tribes that were not federally recognized at the time of its...

Appeals court rules tribal officers permitted to detain non-Indians.(Case Law Abstracts)(Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit)
March 1, 2005... United States v. Terry U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Cir., No. 04-2595 (March 7, 2005) A federal appeals court has ruled that even though a non-Indian was not subject to tribal criminal jurisdiction, tribal law officers had authority...

Land claim over nonintercourse act must be heard in federal court.(Case Law Abstracts)(Unalachtigo Band of the Nanticoke Lenni Lenape Nation v. State of New Jersey)
March 1, 2005... Unalachtigo Band of the Nanticoke Lenni Lenape Nation v. State of New Jersey Superior Court of New Jersey, App. Div., No. A-0475-02T3 (February 28, 2005) A New Jersey court has ruled that a land claim based upon on a violation...

Tribal courts have sole jurisdiction in dispute over trust property.(Case Law Abstracts)
March 1, 2005... Longie v. Spirit Lake Tribe U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Cir., No. 04-1578 (March 7, 2005) A federal appeals court has ruled that tribal courts had exclusive jurisdiction over a dispute between a tribe and one of its members...

Gaming preferences for Indian tribes do not violate 14th amendment rights.(Case Law Abstracts)
March 1, 2005... United States v. Garrett U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th Cir., No. 03-4569 (February 15, 2005) A federal appeals court has upheld the constitutionality of gaming preferences granted to Native American tribes. Garland Bennett...

Tribal claims of treaty violations cannot be heard under Tort Law.(Case Law Abstracts)
March 1, 2005... Skokomish Indian Tribe v. United States U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Cir., No. 01-35028 (March 9, 2005) A federal appeals court has ruled that a tribe's claims against the government for damages caused by treaty violations had to be...

Montana Tribe Sues School, church for 'Misappropriating' donations.(Exploitation)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... A Montana tribe is suing a church and school on its reservation for allegedly using the tribe's hardship to raise millions of dollars that have not helped to alleviate the historic impoverishment of the tribe's members. Filed earlier this...

Cherokee nation ensures protection through lawsuit over orphan cemetery.(Grave Preservation)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Cherokee Nation officials successfully obtained a court injunction Feb. 24 to protect an orphan cemetery from desecration in Tahlequah, Okla. The nation filed a lawsuit in the District Court of Cherokee County to ensure the cemetery would...