Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians v. Patchak (567 U.S. 209)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 18, 2012 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 567 U.S. 209 · 132 S. Ct. 2199
- Decided
- June 18, 2012
- Term
- October Term 2011
- Vote
- 8–1
- Majority author
- Justice Kagan
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Kagan delivered the opinion of the Court. A provision of the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA), 25 U. S. C. § 465, authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to acquire property “for the purpose of providing land for Indians.” Ch. 576, § 5, 48 Stat. 985. The Secretary here acquired land in trust for an Indian tribe seeking to open a casino. Respondent David Patchak lives near that land and challenges the Secretary’s decision in a suit brought under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U. S. C. § 701 et seq. Patchak claims that the Secretary lacked authority under § 465 to take title to the land, and alleges economic, environmental, and aesthetic harms from the casino’s operation. We consider two questions arising from Patchak’s action. The first is whether the United States has sovereign immunity from the suit by virtue of the Quiet Title Act (QTA), 86 Stat. 1176. We think it does not. The second is whether Patchak has prudential standing to challenge the Secretary’s acquisition. We think he does. We therefore hold that Patchak’s suit may proceed. 1—1 The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians (Band) is an Indian tribe residing in rural Michigan. Although the Band has a long history, the Department of the Interior (DOI) formally recognized it only in 1999. See 63 Fed. Reg. 56936 (1998). Two years later, the Band petitioned the Secretary to exercise her…
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