DENVER, Co. – On Dec. 10 the United States Court of Appeals issued its decision in Thlopthlocco Tribal Town v. Wiley, et al., appellants. The Tenth Circuit vacated the District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma’s ruling and dismissed the case as constitutionally moot.
This case is the result of litigation spanning 16 years between the Thlopthlocco Tribal Town (TTT) and judicial officers of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
Before being formed into a centralized government, the MCN was comprised of several traditional tribal towns or etvlwv. While TTT was one of these etvlwv, after the 1936 Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act passed TTT formed its own constitution and became a separate federally recognized tribe in 1939. TTT vests its power to govern in a 10 member Business Committee made up of five elected town officers and five advisors appointed by the elected officials. The town officers consist of a Town King, two Warriors, a Secretary and a Treasurer. According to the TTT website, the duty of the Town King is to preside over meetings and carry out the orders of the Business Committee.
In June 2007 Nathan Anderson was elected TTT Town King. Anderson then declared himself the only legitimately elected official and deemed all other offices of the TTT Business Committee vacant.
Because the TTT does not have its own tribal court system, TTT then filed an action in MCN District Court against Anderson for declaratory and injunctive relief. TTT is a separate federally recognized tribe, and as such was required to adopt a limited waiver of sovereign immunity in order to get the case heard in MCN court. This waiver excluded any election disputes.
The MCN District Court determined that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the case. This decision was reversed by the MCN Supreme Court which found TTT was traditionally a tribal town, so MCN courts had jurisdiction.
Anderson then filed a crossclaim against the Business Committee members claiming election fraud and violation of the TTT constitution. The TTT Business Committee removed Anderson from office and filed a motion to withdraw the waiver of sovereign immunity in the crossclaim case. MCN District Court denied the motion and held that it had jurisdiction even though TTT had withdrawn the waiver.
TTT then filed an appeal of that decision with the MCN Supreme Court. The MCN Supreme Court ruled that under tribal law, TTT was part of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and denied the appeal.
In 2011, TTT held new elections, and Anderson and other individuals were excluded from the ballot. Anderson filed another crossclaim against the TTT Business Committee in MCN District Court. The Business Committee filed a motion to dismiss for a lack of jurisdiction in this new crossclaim, which the court denied. The MCN District Court ordered the election be held and that TTT include Anderson and the others placed on the ballot.
TTT then filed a lawsuit against the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s judicial officers in the United States District Court Northern District of Oklahoma. TTT sought to stop MCN Judges from exercising jurisdiction over its elections and procedures. The Northern District Court dismissed the suit for lack of subject matter jurisdiction on the grounds that MCN judicial officials were entitled to sovereign immunity and TTT had failed to exhaust its tribal court remedies.
This decision was appealed by TTT to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, which reversed the Northern District Court’s decision. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the Northern District Court had jurisdiction under federal common law, and that the case should have additional proceedings after TTT had exhausted its tribal court remedies.
The case went back to the MCN District Court which found that Anderson was no longer a “credible threat” to the TTT government making the case no longer justiciable, or able to be heard in a court of law. The MCN District Court held that TTT could not rely on sovereign immunity to remove Anderson and others from election ballots.
This decision was appealed to the MCN Supreme Court, which held that TTT was entitled to sovereign immunity in MCN courts and affirmed the MCN District Court’s decision and execution of jurisdiction.
The MCN Supreme Court, however, reversed the District Court’s finding on the balloting issue. The MCN Supreme Court decision pointed out that the original TTT waiver of sovereign immunity excluded election disputes, so the lower court did not have jurisdiction over that issue.
The case then returned to the Northern District of Oklahoma Court. TTT sought a declaratory judgement that it enjoys sovereign immunity and can waive or withdraw the waiver under appropriate circumstances. The MCN judges argued that the case was moot and that any opinion of the Northern District Court would be advisory.
On Dec. 20, 2023, The Northern District of Oklahoma Court ordered that TTT enjoys sovereign immunity in MCN courts, and it can withdraw its waiver when appropriate.
MCN again appealed this decision to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and oral argument was held on Nov. 20, 2024.
On Dec. 10, the Tenth Circuit issued Its order and judgement, vacating the lower courts judgment and dismissing the case as moot.
This case was covered in the two episodes of “Lawyered Up” below.
