United States Ninth Circuit

Summary judgment for federal defendants in action by plaintiff-city seeking to set aside the U.S. Dept. of the Interior's decision to accept in trust, for the benefit of the Tohono O'odham Nation, a 54-acre parcel of land known as Parcel 2 on which the Nation hoped to build a resort and casino, is: 1) affirmed in part, where the Gila Bend Indian Reservation Lands Replacement Act, read as a whole is unambiguous and section 6(c) creates a cap only on land held in trust for the Nation, not on total land acquisition by the tribe under the Act; 2) affirmed in part, where the Act does not exceed Congress' power under the Indian Commerce Clause or violate the Tenth Amendment; and 3) reversed and remanded in part, where section 6(d) of the Act is ambiguous as to whether Parcel 2 was "within plaintiff's corporate limits" and the Secretary of the Interior was mistaken that the term has a plain meaning. (Amended opinion)

Appellate Information

• Decided 07/09/2013
• Published 07/09/2013

Judges

• McKEOWN

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel