And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: Piercing Eyes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> forwarded for informational purposes only..contents have not been verified.. From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 11:39:38 EDT Subject: Court Rules Against Indian Courts Court Rules Against Indian Courts .c The Associated Press By LAURIE ASSEO WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal courts, not Indian tribal courts, get to decide whether federal limits apply to claims that nuclear-industry activities caused harm on Indian land, the Supreme Court said today. Ruling unanimously in a case involving uranium mining on the Navajo reservation in Arizona, the court said federal law pre-empts tribal courts from ruling on such cases. The case involves the 1988 Price-Anderson Act, which limits the liability of companies involved in the nuclear industry. When companies are sued in state court, they are allowed to have the case moved to federal court. ``Congress thus expressed an unmistakable preference for a federal forum, at the behest of the defending party,'' for deciding such cases, Justice David H. Souter wrote for the court. The law does not mention a right to move similar cases from tribal courts, Souter said. ``We are at a loss to think of any reason that Congress would have favored'' having such cases handled in tribal courts first, he added. ``Inadvertence seems the most likely'' explanation why tribal courts were not mentioned, Souter wrote. Since there are no nuclear reactors or testing laboratories on Indian territory, Congress may have thought such cases would not arise, he said. Ordinarily, federal Indian law gives tribal courts the authority to handle lawsuits against non-Indians over events occurring on Indian land. However, the government argued that the Price-Anderson law fully pre-empted state and tribal laws involving injury claims against the nuclear industry. Today's case began with two lawsuits filed in Navajo tribal court in 1995 against companies that operated uranium mines on the reservation during the 1950s and 1960s. Laura and Arlinda Neztsosie sued El Paso Natural Gas Co., alleging they had been harmed by water contaminated by radioactive waste from the El Paso mine. Zonnie Richards sued Cyprus Foote Mineral Co. and Cyprus Amax Minerals Co. She said her husband's death resulted from exposure to radioactive materials and wastes. El Paso Natural Gas and Cyprus went to federal court, seeking to bar the tribal courts from hearing the lawsuits. The companies said all of the nuclear-related claims were covered by the 1988 law and must be handled in federal court. A federal judge ruled that the tribal courts could decide issues based on tribal law, but that they could not hear claims based on the federal law. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that all of the Indians' claims must be addressed first in tribal court before the companies could challenge the tribal jurisdiction in federal court. Today, the Supreme Court set aside the 9th Circuit court's ruling and ordered the federal judge to determine whether the Price-Anderson Act's limits apply to the two lawsuits. The case is El Paso Natural Gas vs. Neztsosie, 98-6. AP-NY-05-03-99 1139EDT Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press. Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
