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OCTOBER 31, 2000

In a case pitting state against federal law, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider whether tribes are immune from lawsuits for activities which occur off-reservation.

The Supreme Court has traditionally held that tribes are protected from lawsuit unless they waive their sovereign immunity. However, in several cases, Oklahoma courts have ruled sovereign immunity doesn't exist off-reservation, leading to the conflict between federal and state law.

As early as 1995, the Oklahoma Supreme Court began allowing tribes to sued in state court for disputes regarding off-reservation activities. In the most notable case so far, the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals ruled that the Kiowa Tribe owed a private company more than $250,000 for stock the tribe had agreed to purchase.

But in 1998, the Supreme Court stepped in to resolve the dispute. In Kiowa v. Manufacturing Technologies, Inc., the Supreme Court ruled tribes are immune from suit for off-reservation activities.

The same day, the Supreme Court issued an order involving the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. In 1995, construction company, known as C&L Enterprises, Inc., had obtained a judgment in state court against the tribe, but the Supreme Court said the ruling had to be reconsidered in light of the Kiowa decision.

Following the Supreme Court's instructions, Oklahoma courts have reversed earlier cases in favor of tribes. However, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation case has not yet been reconsidered.

The Supreme Court will hear the Potawatomi case during their current term. No date has yet been set.

Get the Kiowa Case:
Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma v. Manufacturing Tech., Inc 523 U.S. 751 (1998)
Syllabus | Opinion | Dissent
Note: Barring any sudden change in the Supreme Court,the same Justices who ruled on Kiowa will rule on Potawatomi.

Relevant Links:
The Citizen Potawatomi Nation - www.potawatomi.org
The Supreme Court - www.supremecourtus.gov

Related Stories:
Supreme Court to hear tribal court challenge (Tribal Law 10/11)