Arizona et al. v. San Carlos Apache Tribe of Arizona et al. (463 U.S. 545)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided July 1, 1983 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 463 U.S. 545 · 103 S. Ct. 3201
- Decided
- July 1, 1983
- Term
- October Term 1982
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Brennan
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Brennan delivered the opinion of the Court. These consolidated cases form a sequel to our decision in Colorado River Water Conservation District v. United States, 424 U. S. 800 (1976). That case held that (1) the McCarran Amendment, 66 Stat. 560, 43 U. S. C. § 666, which waived the sovereign immunity of the United States as to comprehensive state water rights adjudications, provides state courts with jurisdiction to adjudicate Indian water rights held in trust by the United States, and (2), in light of the clear federal policies underlying the McCarran Amendment, a water rights suit brought by the United States in federal court was properly dismissed in favor of a concurrent comprehensive adjudication reaching the same issues in Colorado state court. The questions in these cases are parallel: (1) What is the effect of the McCarran Amendment in those States which, unlike Colorado, were admitted to the Union subject to federal legislation that reserved “absolute jurisdiction and control” over Indian lands in the Congress of the United States? (2) If the courts of such States do have jurisdiction to adjudicate Indian water rights, should concurrent federal suits brought by Indian tribes, rather than by the United States, and raising only Indian claims, also be subject to dismissal under the doctrine of Colorado River? r-H Colorado River arose out of a suit brought by the…
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