Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
David Littlefield, et al. v. Department of the Interior, et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, No. 23-1197 · judgment October 31, 2023
Before the decision, about 3.8× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a First Circuit decision below, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition).
Question presented
In Carcieri v. Salazar, 555 U.S. 379 (2009) (“Carcieri”), this Court held that Congress, when enacting the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, narrowed the Interior Secretary’s authority to take land into trust for “Indians” by limiting that term to mean members of tribes that were recognized and under federal jurisdiction in 1934. In this case, the court of appeals concluded that the Secretary had authority to take land into trust for a group of Indians that Interior said in 1934 consisted of tribal remnants never under federal jurisdiction; that a federal court determined in 1978 did not exist as a tribe after 1869; and that the Secretary did not recognize as a tribe until 2007. The questions presented is: Whether the decision of the court of appeals conflicts with Carcieri?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
David Henry Tennant
Law Office of David Tennant PLLC
For respondent
Samuel Franklin Daughety
Dentons-US LLP
Case
Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference
Proceedings
- Apr 01 2024Petition DENIED.
- Mar 12 2024DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/28/2024.
- Mar 06 2024Waiver of right of respondent Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe to respond filed.
- Mar 06 2024Waiver of right of respondent United States Department of the Interior, et al. to respond filed.
- Jan 26 2024Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 6, 2024)