1、CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Supreme Court Directs State Court to Decide Whether Indian Tribe Can Invoke Sovereign Immunity in Property Dispute July 16, 2018 Indian tribes possess “inherent sovereign authority,” which means, among other th
2、ings, that they cannot be subject to lawsuits unless the tribe waives or Congress expressly abrogates such immunity. Recently, the Supreme Court in Upper Skagit Indian Tribe v. Lundgren ruled that a Washington state court erroneously rejected an Indian tribes claim that sovereign immunity foreclosed
3、 a lawsuit involving a property dispute between two landowners and the tribe. Citing the Supreme Courts 1992 decision in County of Yakima v. Confederated Tribes and Bands of Yakima Indian Nation, the state court had reasoned that an Indian tribes claim of sovereign immunity did not bar courts from e
4、xercising jurisdiction to settle disputes over real property. In reversing the state courts decision, the Supreme Court held that the state courts reliance on Yakima was misplaced because that case did not address the scope of tribal sovereign immunity, but only concerned the question of whether a p
