ELLIOTT v. WHITE MOUNTAIN APACHE TRIBAL COURT

No. 07-15041.

566 F.3d 842 (2009)

Valinda Jo ELLIOTT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WHITE MOUNTAIN APACHE TRIBAL COURT; Honorable John Doe Tribal Judge; and White Opinion Mountain Apache Tribe, Defendants-Appellees.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Resubmitted May 7, 2009.

Filed May 14, 2009.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Cari M. McConeghy-Harris, Law Offices of David Michael Cantor, P.C., Tempe, AZ, for the plaintiff-appellant.

Robert C. Brauchi, Tucson, AZ, and Alexander B. Ritchie, White Mountain Apache Tribe, Whiteriver, AZ, Howard M. Shanker and Laura Berglan, The Shanker Law Firm, PLC, Flagstaff, AZ, for the defendants-appellees.

Joe B. Sparks, The Sparks Law Firm, P.C., Scottsdale, AZ, for the amicus curiae.

Before: SIDNEY R. THOMAS and SUSAN P. GRABER, Circuit Judges, and STEPHEN G. LARSON, District Judge.


GRABER, Circuit Judge:

A tribal court's jurisdiction over nonmembers of the tribe is limited. As a matter of comity, however, federal courts generally decline to entertain challenges to a tribal court's jurisdiction until the tribal court has had a full opportunity to rule on its own jurisdiction. Finding that no exception to that general rule applies here, the district court held that exhaustion of tribal court remedies is required. On de novo review, Boozer v...

Let's get started

Leagle.com

Welcome to the leading source of independent legal reporting
Sign on now to see your case.
Or view more than 10 million decisions and orders.

  • Updated daily.
  • Uncompromising quality.
  • Complete, Accurate, Current.

Listed below are the cases that are cited in this Featured Case. Click the citation to see the full text of the cited case. Citations are also linked in the body of the Featured Case.

Cited Cases

  • No Cases Found

Listed below are those cases in which this Featured Case is cited. Click on the case name to see the full text of the citing case.

Citing Cases