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Joy Spurr v. Melissa L. Pope, Chief Judge, Tribal Court of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, No. 18-2174 · judgment August 26, 2019

Certiorari denied · January 13, 2020
Pre-decision estimate: 3% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Questions presented

A member of an Indian tribe filed a petition in tribal court for an ex parte personal protection order against “stalking” by a nontribal member. The petition was granted by the tribal court. The nontribal member later sued in federal court claiming that her conduct was not “stalking” and that the tribal court lacked jurisdiction. The tribe moved to dismiss the federal case on the grounds that it had sovereign immunity, and the Sixth Circuit ruled in favor of the tribe. The questions presented are:

  1. Suppose a nontribal member is sued in a court of an Indian Tribe, and later sues in federal court claiming that the tribal court lacked jurisdiction. Can the Tribe end the federal case by invoking sovereign immunity? and

  2. Does an Indian Tribe have jurisdiction to issue and enforce a personal protection order against a nonTribal member who has none of the ties to the Tribe required by Section 1304 of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Stephen Josiah Spurr
Attorney at Law

For respondent
David Angelo Giampetroni
Kanji & Katzen, PLLC

Case

Subject area
Civil Rights (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Order
Order list, January 13, 2020 · Certiorari denied

Proceedings

  1. Jan 13 2020
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Dec 23 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/10/2020.
  3. Dec 09 2019
    Brief of respondents Melissa L. Pope, et al. in opposition filed.
  4. Nov 05 2019
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due December 9, 2019)