July 15, 2022
The U.S. Supreme Court opened the door for states to enforce their criminal laws on reservations, backed Texas tribes' bingo businesses and recognized tribal law at work in Bureau of Indian Affairs-funded courts, while the Federal Circuit took a broad view of the trust duty owed to Osage headright holders and the First Circuit deepened a split on tribal immunity under federal bankruptcy law. Here's a look at some of the highest-profile decisions in Native American law from the first half of 2022.
May 10, 2022
The past week has seen a trio of large Chapter 11 cases hit the dockets as debt holders become less permissive, the Diocese of Camden meet a wall of opposition from its insurers who aren't on board with a new $90 million plan to deal with sex abuse claims, and entities related to conspiracy theorist Alex Jones face challenges from families of Sandy Hook victims to their bankruptcy filings. This is the week in bankruptcy.
May 09, 2022
A divided First Circuit panel has ruled that Native American tribes aren't exempt from federal law barring suits against debtors once they file for bankruptcy, saying the U.S. Bankruptcy Code "unequivocally strips tribes" of their sovereign immunity to suit.
October 07, 2021
A First Circuit judge pushed back Thursday on the argument that Native American tribes are exempt from the federal law barring suits against debtors once they file for bankruptcy.
August 16, 2021
A nonprofit Native American trade group has urged the First Circuit to uphold a ruling that a tribe in Wisconsin and related companies have sovereign immunity to a suit over the collection of a loan debt, saying Congress didn't clearly take away the tribe's immunity in bankruptcy-related suits.