Supreme Court Docket Report - June 15, 2015

Today, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in one case of interest to the business community:

Indian Tribes—Jurisdiction of Tribal Courts over Nonmembers

In Montana v. United States, 450 U.S. 544 (1981), the Supreme Court recognized that, as a general matter, the "inherent sovereign powers of an Indian Tribe do not extend to the activities of nonmembers of the tribe." The Court also recognized an exception to that general rule, however, holding that tribes retain some authority "over non-Indians on their reservations, even on non-Indian fee lands." Specifically, the Court held that "[a] tribe may regulate, through taxation, licensing, or other means, the activities of nonmembers who enter consensual relationships with the tribe or its members."

In Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land & Cattle Co., 554 U.S. 316 (2008), the Court granted certiorari to decide whether the "other means" by which a Tribe may regulate nonmembers include adjudicating civil tort claims against nonmembers in tribal court...