Blatchford v. Native Village of Noatak

Blatchford v. Native Village of Noatak
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided June 24, 1991
Full case nameBlatchford v. Native Village of Noatak
Citations501 U.S. 775 (more)
Holding
The Eleventh Amendment prevents tribes from filing lawsuits against the United States because they are not party to the Constitution; therefore, the United States must sue itself as a trustee for the tribe under United States v. Minnesota.
Court membership
Chief Justice
William Rehnquist
Associate Justices
Byron White · Thurgood Marshall
Harry Blackmun · John P. Stevens
Sandra Day O'Connor · Antonin Scalia
Anthony Kennedy · David Souter
Case opinions
MajorityScalia
ConcurrenceBlackmun, joined by Marshall, Stevens

Blatchford v. Native Village of Noatak, 501 U.S. 775 (1991), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the Eleventh Amendment prevents tribes from filing lawsuits against the United States because they are not party to the Constitution; therefore, the United States must sue itself as a trustee for the tribe under United States v. Minnesota.[1][2]

Criticism

Blatchford was out of step with most prior Eleventh Amendment jurisprudence, which said sovereign immunity under the Amendment only applied to situations mentioned directly in its text.[3]

References

  1. ^ Blatchford v. Native Village of Noatak, 501 U.S. 775 (1991)
  2. ^ Williams, Joel West, ed. (2022). "Blatchford v. Native Village of Noatuk". Landmark Indian Law Cases, Second Edition. p. 725.
  3. ^ Getches, David H. (1996). "Conquering the Cultural Frontier: The New Subjectivism of the Supreme Court in Indian Law". California Law Review. 84 (6): 1643 n.341. doi:10.2307/3481094. ISSN 0008-1221. JSTOR 3481094.
  • Text of Blatchford v. Native Village of Noatak, 501 U.S. 775 (1991) is available from: Cornell Findlaw Justia
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