Appellate Case: 14-4034 Document: 01019258215 Date Filed: 06/02/2014 Page: 1 CASE NO. 14-4034 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT UTE INDIAN TRIBE OF THE ) UINTAH AND OURAY RESERVATION, ) UTAH, a federally recognized Indian tribe, ) ) ) Plaintiff - Appellant, ) ) v. ) ) THE STATE OF UTAH; WASATCH ) COUNTY, a political subdivision of the State ) of Utah; GARY HERBERT, Governor of the ) State of Utah; SEAN D. REYES, Attorney ) General for the State of Utah; SCOTT SWEAT, ) Wasatch County Attorney; and TYLER J. ) BERG, Wasatch Deputy County Attorney, ) ) Defendants - Appellees. ) On Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Utah, Central Division The Honorable Judge Dee Benson No. 2:13-cv-01070 APPELLANT’S BRIEF Jeffrey S. Rasmussen Fredericks Peebles & Morgan LLP 1900 Plaza Drive Louisville, Colorado 80027 Telephone: 303-673-9600 Facsimile: 303-673-9155/9839 June 2, 2014 Appellate Case: 14-4034 Document: 01019258215 Date Filed: 06/02/2014 Page: 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS JURISDICTION ............................................................................................................................. 2 STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES.................................................................................................... 3 STATEMENT OF THE CASE ....................................................................................................... 3 A. The First Adjudication of the Tribe’s Reservation Boundaries ........................................... 5 B. The State of Utah’s Second Relitigation of the Tribe’s Reservation Boundaries in the Tribe’s Absence .......................................................................................................................... 6 C. The State of Utah’s Third Relitigation of the Tribe’s Reservation Boundaries................... 7 D. The State’s Attempted Fourth Relitigation of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation Boundaries .................................................................................................................................. 8 E. Facts related to Utah’s prosecution of Ute tribal member Lesa Ann Jenkins for on-Reservation misdemeanor offenses ..................................................................................... 10 F. Procedural History of the Action Below ........................................................................... 11 STATEMENT OF STANDARD OF REVIEW ........................................................................... 14 SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT ........................................................................................... 15 DISCUSSION OF LAW ............................................................................................................... 18 I. THE DISTRICT COURT ERRED BECAUSE THE TRIBE WILL SUFFER IRREPARABLE HARM IF THE CURRENT INJUNCTION IS NOT MAINTAINED UPON REMAND ..................................................................................................................................... 18 ii Appellate Case: 14-4034 Document: 01019258215 Date Filed: 06/02/2014 Page: 3 II. THE TRIBE’S RIGHT TO INTERIM INJUNCTIVE RELIEF IS CLEAR AND INDISPUTABLE .......................................................................................................................... 24 A. Likelihood of Success on the Merits .................................................................................. 27 B. Irreparable Harm ................................................................................................................ 28 C. Balance of Harms ............................................................................................................... 30 D. The Public Interest Will Not Be Adversely Affected ........................................................ 31 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 32 CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE ............................................................................................ 42 CERTIFICATE OF DIGITAL SUBMISSION AND PRIVACY REDACTIONS .................... 363 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE ..................................................................................................... 36 iii Appellate Case: 14-4034 Document: 01019258215 Date Filed: 06/02/2014 Page: 4 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Cases Bishop Paiute Tribe v. County of Inyo, 275 F.3d 893 (9th Cir. 2002) .......................................... 36 Brooks v. Barbour Energy Corp., 804 F.2d 1144 (10th Cir. 1986) ........................................ 29, 32 Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) ..................................................................... 39 Browning Debenture Holders’ Committee v. DASA Corp., 454 F. Supp. 88 (S.D. New York 1978) ................................................................................................................................................... 30 California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, 480 U.S. 202 (1987) ........................................ 21 Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma v. Oklahoma, 724 F. Supp. 2d 1182 (W.D. Okla. 2010) ........ 25, 38 Coeur D'Alene Tribe v. Hammond, 244 F. Supp.2d 1264 (D. Idaho) .......................................... 35 Comanche Nation v. United States, 393 F. Supp. 2d 1196 (W.D. Okla. 2005) ............................ 34 Decoteau v. District County Court, 420 U.S. 425 (1975) ............................................................. 22 Duchesne County v. Ute Tribe, 522 U.S. 1107 (1998) ..................................................... 10, 11, 12 Farmington v. Benally, 892 P.2d 629 (N.M. App. 1995) ............................................................. 37 G.C. and K.B. Investments, Inc. v. Wilson, 326 F.3d 1096 (9th Cir. 2002) .................................. 30 Hagen v. Utah, 510 U.S. 399 (1994) .................................................................................... 7, 8, 10 Indian Country, U.S.A., Inc. v. Okla. Tax Comm'n., 829 F.2d 967 (10th Cir. 1987) .............. 36, 38 Inyo County v. Paiute-Shoshone Indians, 538 U.S. 701 (2003) ................................................... 36 Jackson v. Carter Oil Co., 179 F.2d 524 (10th Cir. 1950) ..................................................... 31, 32 Kidder, Peabody & Co., Inc. v. Maxus Energy Corp., 925 F.2d 556 (2d Cir. 1991) ................... 30 Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma v. Hoover, 150 F.3d 1163 (10th Cir. 1998) .......... 17, 18, 33, 34 Moe v. Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, 425 U.S. 463 (1976) .................................. 22, 23 iv Appellate Case: 14-4034 Document: 01019258215 Date Filed: 06/02/2014 Page: 5 Prairie Band of Potawatomi Indians v. Pierce, 253 F.3d 1234 (10th Cir. 2001) ....... 24, 25, 36, 37 Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation v. Wagnon, 476 F.3d 818 (10th Cir. 2007) ............................. 32 Ross v. Neff, 905 F.2d 1349 (10th Cir. 1990) ............................................................................... 35 Royal Ins. Co. of Am. v. Quinn-L Capital Corp., 960 F.2d 1286 (5th Cir. 1992)......................... 30 Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma v. Oklahoma, 874 F.2d 709 (10th Cir. 1989) .... 21, 25, 36, 37 Seymour v. Superintendent, 368 U.S. 351 (1962) ......................................................................... 23 Solem v. Bartlett, 465 U.S. 463 (1984) ......................................................................................... 24 South Dakota v. Cummings, 679 N.W.2d 484 (S.D. 2004) .......................................................... 36 State v. Valdez, 65 P.3d 1191 (Utah App. 2003) .......................................................................... 24 United Keetoowah Bank of Cherokee Indians v. Oklahoma, 927 F.2d 1170 (10th Cir. 1991) .... 21 United States v. Felter, 752 F.2d 1505 (10th Cir. 1985) .............................................................. 24 Utah v. Ute Indian Tribe, 479 U.S. 994 (1986) .......................................................................... 5, 7 Ute Indian Tribe v. State of Utah, 521 F. Supp. 1072 (D. Utah 1981) ................................... 4, 8, 9 Ute Indian Tribe v. State of Utah, 773 F.2d 1087 (10th Cir. 1985) ....................................... passim Ute Indian Tribe v. Utah, 114 F.3d 1513 (10th Cir. 1993) .................................................... passim Ute Indian Tribe v. Utah, 935 F. Supp. 1473 (D. Utah 1996) ........................................................ 9 Ute Tribe v. Utah, 716 F.2d 1298 (10th Cir. 1983) ........................................................................ 6 Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska v. Stovall, 205 F. Supp. 2d 1217 (D. Kan. 2002) ................... 25, 38 Wyandotte Nation v. Sebelius, 443 F.3d 1247 (10th Cir. 2006) ................................................... 24 Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37 (1971) ......................................................................................... 15 v Appellate Case: 14-4034 Document: 01019258215 Date Filed: 06/02/2014 Page: 6 Statutes 18 U.S.C. § 1151 ..................................................................................................................... 18, 19 18 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1) .................................................................................................................... 2 25 U.S.C. § 1321(a)(1) .................................................................................................................. 19 25 U.S.C. § 1738B(b) ..................................................................................................................