“Carcieri Fix” Might be a Tough Sell

Selling Congress on a fix for the Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar might not be easy, says Matthew Fletcher of Turtle Talk. Writing for Turtle Talk last week, Fletcher said a fix for Carcieri might be too political to get through Congress and that the pressure from state and local governments on lawmakers will halt any attempts to reverse the decision, which prohibits the Interior Department from taking land into trust for tribes not recognized by the federal government in 1934, when the Indian Reorganization Act was enacted.

Oral Arguments in Plains Commerce Bank

For impressions of the oral arguments on Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land & Cattle visit Turtle Talk. The issue in Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land & Cattle was whether tribal courts have jurisdiction over a dispute between a nontribal bank and a company that is majority Indian-owned.