JUNE 23, 2016

U.S. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS TRIBAL JURISDICTION OVER NON-INDIAN DOING BUSINESS ON TRIBAL LAND

In Dollar General Corp. v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, 136 S. Ct. 2159 (2016), Dollar General Corp. (DGC) had a lease & license from the tribe to operate a store on tribal land. In 2003, a 13-year-old tribal member working at the store under a joint tribal-DGC internship alleged sexual abuse by the store manager and, in 2005, sued the store manager & DGC in the tribal court. Defendants claimed that the tribal court did not have jurisdiction over non-Indians. When the tribal court refused to dismiss the suit and the Choctaw Supreme Court affirmed, the defendants sued the tribe in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi to stop the suit. After the district court held that DGC’s consensual relationship with the tribe subjected it to tribal jurisdiction and the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court decision, DGC appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The then 8-member Court (Justice Scalia had died) split 4-4, letting stand the Fifth Circuit decision, albeit with no precedential value.

Source: Dollar General Corp. v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Oyez.  Retrieved 11/27/2021, Dollar General Corporation v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians | Oyez
Graphic:  Official Seal of U.S. Supreme Court.  Public Domain.