Merrion et al., Dba Merrion & Bayless, et al. v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe et al. (455 U.S. 130)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 25, 1982 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 455 U.S. 130 · 102 S. Ct. 894
- Decided
- January 25, 1982
- Term
- October Term 1981
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Marshall
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court. Pursuant to long-term leases with the Jicarilla Apache Tribe, petitioners, 21 lessees, extract and produce oil and gas from the Tribe’s reservation lands. In these two consolidated cases, petitioners challenge an ordinance enacted by the Tribe imposing a severance tax on “any oil and natural gas severed, saved and removed from Tribal lands.” See Oil and Gas Severance Tax No. 77-0-02, App. 38. We granted certiorari to determine whether the Tribe has the authority to impose this tax, and, if so, whether the tax imposed by the Tribe violates the Commerce Clause. I The Jicarilla Apache Tribe resides on a reservation in northwestern New Mexico. Established by Executive Order in 1887, the reservation contains 742,315 acres, all of which are held as tribal trust property. The 1887 Executive Order set aside public lands in the Territory of New Mexico for the use and occupation of the Jicarilla Apache Indians, and contained no special restrictions except for a provision protecting pre-existing rights of bona fide settlers. Approximately 2,100 individuals live on the reservation, with the majority residing in the town of Dulce, N. M., near the Colorado border. The Tribe is organized under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, ch. 576, 48 Stat. 984, 25 U. S. C. §461 et seq., which authorizes any tribe residing on a reservation to…
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