United States Ninth Circuit

Dismissal of claims brought by Indian tribe members against a tribal housing authority alleging statutory and contractual violations involving allegedly improper construction of their homes is reversed where the tribe waived the immunity of the housing authority when it enacted the enabling ordinance with its "sue and be sued" clause, subject to limitations contained in the enabling ordinance.

Appellate Information

• Argued 05/09/2007
• Decided 07/21/2006
• Published 07/21/2006

Judges

• Before:  HARRY PREGERSON, SUSAN P. GRABER, and RONALD M. GOULD, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Thomas E. Towe, Towe, Ball, Enright, Mackey & Sommerfeld, PLLP, Jeffrey A. Simkovic, Simkovic Law Firm, Billings, MT;  Mary Ann Sutton, Attorney at Law, Missoula, MT, for the plaintiffs-appellants., John T. Harrison, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Tribal Legal Department, Pablo, MT;  Patterson V. Joe, Patterson V. Joe, P.C., Flagstaff, AZ, for the amici., Edmund Clay Goodman and Michael L. Roy, Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker LLP, Portland, OR, for Amici National American Indian Housing Council.


• For Appellees:
  
• Stephen A. Doherty and Patrick L. Smith, Smith, Doherty & Belcourt, P.C., Great Falls, MT;  Timothy J. Cavan, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Billings, MT, for the defendants-appellees.