Number: RS22820
Title: Indian Tribal Civil Jurisdiction's Reach Over Non-Indians: Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land and Cattle Co.
Authors: Yule Kim, American Law Division 
Abstract: The Supreme Court addressed the reach of tribal civil jurisdiction over nonmembers in Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land and Cattle Co., Inc. (491 F.3d 878 (8th Cir. 2007), cert. granted, 128 S. Ct. 829 (2008)), a case that presents the question of whether Indian tribal courts have jurisdiction over a nonmember involved in a civil tort claim arising out of a consensual business relationship with a tribal member. In this case, tribal members had alleged that an off-reservation bank had discriminated against them by refusing to sell back land that the tribal members had previously owned and sold to the bank pursuant to a mortgage agreement. In tribal court, the tribal members brought an array of tribal common law claims, and won most of them, including the discrimination claim. The Supreme Court, however, reversed, holding that tribes cannot regulate or adjudicate claims relating to the sale of non-Indian fee lands.
Pages: 6
Date: August 18, 2008