Indian Gaming > 11th Circuit supports Miccosukee Tribe in casino dram shop action

11th Circuit supports Miccosukee Tribe in casino dram shop action

Monday, July 2, 2012
Filed Under: Litigation

The Micosukee Tribe of Florida can't be sued for allegedly over-serving alcohol to a casino patron, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday.

Tatiana Furry, a non-Indian, was reportedly drinking heavily at the Miccosukee Resort & Gaming before she drove away. She was in the wrong lane when she collided with a vehicle driven by Kent Billie, a tribal member, in the early morning hours of January 21, 2009.

Furry was killed and her blood alcohol level was measured at .32, four times Florida’s legal limit of .08, the 11th Circuit noted. But the tribe can't be sued under the state's dram shop law or under federal Indian liquor laws due to its sovereign immunity, the court said.

"As our precedents make clear, a tribe may retain its immunity from suit even where its conduct is governed by state or federal law. Accordingly, we have no basis to conclude that Indian tribes’ liquor transactions, solely by virtue of being subject to state and federal regulation, fall entirely outside the scope of the tribal immunity doctrine," the court stated.

Turtle Talk has posted documents from the case, Furry v. Miccosukee Tribe.

11th Circuit Decision:
Furry v. Miccosukee Tribe (June 29, 2012)

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