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Jason Self, et al. v. Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria

Paid petition · Court of Appeal of California, First Appellate District, No. A158632 · judgment January 26, 2021


Certiorari denied · February 22, 2022
Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

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

Question presented

In Upper Skagit Indian Tribe v. Lundgren, this Court declined to decide the “grave” question whether the “immovable-property” exception that applies to all other forms of sovereign immunity also applies to tribal sovereign immunity, because that question had not been pressed or passed upon below. 138 S. Ct. 1649, 1653-54 (2018). The Chief Justice did “not object to the Court’s determination to forgo consideration of the immovable-property rule at th[at] time,” but explained that the question would “need to be addressed in a future case.” Id. at 1656 (Roberts, C.J., concurring). Justice Thomas, joined by Justice Alito, dissented on the ground that the exception “obviously applies to tribal immunity—as it does to every other type of sovereign immunity that has ever been recognized.” Id. (Thomas, J., dissenting). The question presented is: Whether the immovable-property exception applies to tribal sovereign immunity.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Thomas Henderson Dupree Jr.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

For respondent
Timothy Carr Seward
Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker, LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Amicus briefs
2 cert-stage

Proceedings

  1. Feb 22 2022
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Feb 02 2022
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/18/2022.
  3. Feb 02 2022
    Reply of petitioners Jason Self, et al. filed. (Distributed)
  4. Jan 14 2022
    Brief of respondent Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria in opposition filed.
  5. Dec 15 2021
    Brief amici curiae of Texas, et al. filed.
  6. Dec 06 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including January 14, 2022.
  7. Dec 03 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from December 15, 2021 to January 14, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
  8. Nov 15 2021
    Response Requested. (Due December 15, 2021)
  9. Nov 02 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/19/2021.
  10. Oct 29 2021
    Waiver of right of respondent Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria to respond filed.
  11. Oct 25 2021
    Brief amicus curiae of Seneca County, New York filed.
  12. Sep 27 2021
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 29, 2021)