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<h2 id="articletitle">Sovereign immunity on trial</h2>
<div class="article-info"><span class="article-type"><a linkindex="49"
href="http://www.hcn.org/hcnonline.jsp">HCN ONLINE</a></span> - <span
class="article-date">April 22, 2008 </span><span
class="article-author">by Terri C. Hansen</span></div>
</div>
Tribal governments may no longer be exempt from being sued by tribal
members. Since the early 1800s, the U.S. government has acknowledged
that Indian nations have full legal rights to manage their own affairs.
This doctrine of tribal “sovereign immunity” has prevented legal
attacks on tribal governments and shielded them from lawsuits brought
by states, groups or individuals. But the recent 9th Circuit Court
decision that sovereign immunity doesn’t protect the Blackfeet Nation
of Montana has "far-reaching and grave implications for all of Indian
Country," said Steve Doherty, the tribe’s lead attorney.
<p>The court ruled 2-1 that the tribe waived its sovereign immunity
through the language in its housing regulations, making the Blackfeet
Housing Authority and not the Department of Housing and Urban
Development liable for faulty, mold-infested tribal homes built under
programs regulated by HUD. (The problem is not just confined to the
Blackfeet: A 2003 HUD study found toxic mold in 15 percent of tribal
homes nationwide.) The Blackfeet, like most tribes that receive housing
funds from HUD, adopted a boilerplate provision provided by HUD, which
the court deemed a waiver of sovereign immunity.
</p>
<p>The court’s interpretation may have serious repercussions for
tribes. “This is one of the arguments we made, that the same or similar
kind of language is commonly seen in agreements with tribal entities,”
said Doherty. “If the decision goes forward, it would expand the
grounds for finding an implied waiver of immunity.” <br>
</p>
<p>Without sovereign immunity to protect them, many legal experts worry
that tribal governments with similar provisions will be besieged with
personal injury and class action lawsuits. Other tribes, including the
Navajo and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai, are concerned because
they have housing ordinances similar to the one that opened up the
Blackfeet Housing Authority to lawsuits, and have filed amicus briefs
in support of the Blackfeet agency.<br>
</p>
<p>Indian law expert Richard Guest says he is concerned with the
exemption
of HUD from the case on the basis of the United States’ own sovereign
immunity. "By saying, ‘You, the federal government, are not liable, but
you, the tribe, are,’ (it) exposes the tribes to the kind of liability
that they’re not set up to absorb the way the United States is." </p>
<p>Judge Harry Pregerson, who dissented with the court’s opinion, cited
numerous statutes that he said created a trust duty to the tribe and
its members. “The federal government undertook, as part of its treaty
and general trust relationship, to assist the Blackfeet Tribe to
acquire decent, safe, and sanitary housing. The tribe had little choice
but to accept the government housing program.”
</p>
<p>The Blackfeet Nation is likely to request a rehearing in front
of a larger 9th Circuit Court panel, says Doherty, rather than appeal
to the Supreme Court.
</p>
<p><i>The author writes from Portland, Oregon, and is a member of the
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.</i> </p>
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