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WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 2001

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that a Montana company's rights were violated because a jury composed of Blackfeet tribal members were egged on by "incendiary racial and nationalistic terms" to rule against the firm.

As a result, the court has thrown out a $2.2 million judgment against Glacier Electric Cooperative, Inc., a non-Indian company who did work with a construction firm owned by members of the Blackfeet Tribe.

The case stems from a contract dispute between the Co-Op and Glacier Construction. For a number of reasons, including questions of cost and quality of work, Co-Op informed Glacier that it would no longer be using its services.

Glacier then filed suit in tribal court, claiming breach of contract. At the conclusion of the trial, the company's lawyers referred to the case in terms that "repeatedly appealed to racial and ethnic prejudice."

References were made to Custer, massacres of Indians, and alleged racial prejudice of the Co-Op against Indians. An all-tribal member jury then awarded Glacier the $2.3 million judgment, which was upheld in Blackfeet Appeals Court.

The Co-Op eventually challenged the ruling in federal court in Montana when Glacier attempted to collect the money. US District Judge Paul G. Hatfield, however, upheld the judgment, recognizing the respect offered to other courts.

The three judge panel of the 9th Circuit yesterday overturned Hatfield's ruling. While courts can recognize "foreign" judgments the judges said it is not mandatory.

Therefore, the judges had to consider whether the Co-Op's due process rights were violated by the "inflammatory" closing arguments. After looking at the statements the tribal jury heard, the 9th Circuit ruled the Co-Op's rights were indeed violated and threw out the financial award.

Get the Case:
BIRD v. GLACIER ELEC. COOP., INC., No 99-35162 [pdf] (9th Cir. July 10, 2001)