United States Tenth Circuit

Where at least one of the three Younger requirements was not met in a case challenging a state's attempts to assess fuel taxes on a corporation wholly owned by an Indian tribe, the district court was correct in refusing to abstain; district court did not abuse its discretion in granting injunctive orders in favor of the tribe.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/28/2003
• Published 08/28/2003

Judges

• SEYMOUR, Circuit Judge., Before SEYMOUR, McKAY and LUCERO, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Tenth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Brian R. Johnson, Assistant Attorney General (Carla J. Stovall, Attorney General, with him on the briefs), Topeka, KS, for Defendants/Appellants., Vernle C. Durocher, Jr. (Michael J. Wahoske, Mary J. Streitz and Christopher R. Duggan, of Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Minneapolis, MN;  Thomas E. Wright, of Wright, Henson, Somers, Sebelius, Clark & Baker, LLP, Topeka, KS;  and Mark Hubble, Tribal Attorney for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, Winnebago, NE, with him on the brief), of Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Minneapolis, MN, for Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, HCI Distribution, Chairman John Blackhawk, Lance Morgan, Erin Morgan and Earlene Hradec, Plaintiffs/Appellees., Charley Laman, Tribal Attorney, Topeka, KS, for Plaintiff/Appellee Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas (Mark S. Gunnison, of Payne & Jones, Chartered, Overland Park, KS, for Plaintiff Appellee Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska;  and Thomas Weathers, of Alexander & Karshmer, Berkeley, CA, for Plaintiff Appellee Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri, with him on the brief).