Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation v. Wold Engineering, P. C., et al. (467 U.S. 138)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 29, 1984 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 467 U.S. 138 · 104 S. Ct. 2267
- Decided
- May 29, 1984
- Term
- October Term 1983
- Vote
- 7–2
- Majority author
- Justice Blackmun
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court. This litigation presents issues of state-court civil jurisdiction over a claim asserted by an Indian tribe. The case, as it comes to us, is somewhat unusual in a central respect: the Tribe seeks, rather than contests, state-court jurisdiction, and the non-Indian party is in opposition. Cf. Williams v. Lee, 358 U. S. 217 (1959). Chapter 27-19 of the North Dakota Century Code (1974) is entitled “Indian Civil Jurisdiction.” Section 27-19-01 of that Code provides that the jurisdiction of North Dakota courts shall extend “over all civil causes of action which arise on an Indian reservation upon acceptance by Indian citizens.” In this case, the Supreme Court of North Dakota interpreted Chapter 27-19 to disclaim state-court jurisdiction over a claim (against a non-Indian) by an Indian Tribe that had not accepted jurisdiction under the statute. The court determined that the North Dakota Legislature had disclaimed jurisdiction pursuant to the principal federal statute governing state jurisdiction over Indian country, namely, the Act of Aug. 15, 1953, 67 Stat. 588, as amended, 28 U. S. C. § 1360, commonly known as Pub. L. 280. The court further concluded that the jurisdictional disclaimer, inasmuch as it was authorized by Pub. L. 280, did not run afoul of the North Dakota or Federal Constitutions. Because the North Dakota Supreme…
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