Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and Shoshone-paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation v. Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al. (543 U.S. 631)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 1, 2005 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 543 U.S. 631 · 125 S. Ct. 1172
- Decided
- March 1, 2005
- Term
- October Term 2004
- Vote
- 8–0
- Majority author
- Justice Breyer
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court. The United States and two Indian Tribes have entered into agreements in which the Government promises to pay certain “contract support costs” that the Tribes incurred during fiscal years (FYs) 1994 through 1997. The question before us is whether the Government’s promises are legally binding. We conclude that they are. I The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (Act), 88 Stat. 2203, as amended, 25 U. S. C. § 450 et seq. (2000 ed. and Supp. II), authorizes the Government and Indian tribes to enter into contracts in which the tribes promise to supply federally funded services, for example tribal health services, that a Government agency would otherwise provide. See §450f(a); see also §450a(b). The Act specifies that the Government must pay a tribe’s costs, including administrative expenses. See §§ 450j-1(a)(1) and (2). Administrative expenses include (1) the amount that the agency would have spent “for the operation of the progra[m]” had the agency itself managed the program, § 450j-1(a)(1), and (2) “contract support costs,” the costs at issue here. § 450j-l(a)(2). The Act defines “contract support costs” as other “reasonable costs” that a federal agency would not have incurred, but which nonetheless “a tribal organization” acting “as a contractor” would incur “to ensure compliance with the terms of the…
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