Cook v. United States Senate

20 Ct. Int'l Trade 217
CourtUnited States Court of International Trade
DecidedFebruary 9, 1996
DocketCourt No. 95-01-00001
StatusPublished

This text of 20 Ct. Int'l Trade 217 (Cook v. United States Senate) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of International Trade primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cook v. United States Senate, 20 Ct. Int'l Trade 217 (cit 1996).

Opinion

[218]*218Memorándum Opinion and Order

DiCalro, Chief Judge:

Plaintiff, Dale F. Cook, Sr., “Chief of the Original Cherokee Nation,” petitions the court to return ownership of all land acquired by the United States in certain agreements with Native Americans, or alternatively, find the passage of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), as well as the GATT Treaty itself, unconstitutional. The court finds plaintiff lacks standing and has failed to fulfill the jurisdictional prerequisites of this court.

Background

Plaintiff seeks a declaratory judgment regarding the constitutionality of the passage of the GATT Treaty (presumably the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, Pub. L. No. 103-465,108 Stat. 4809 (1994) (codifiedin scattered sections of the United States Code)), and the unspecified injury its passage could have on “The Original Cherokee Nation and its citizens and inhabitants.” (Pl.’s Compl. for Decl. J. at 2.) Specifically, plaintiff contends “the GATT document was so voluminous that the people were not informed of the contents and substance thereof and could not tell their representatives how to vote. They were therefore denied DUE PROCESS.” Id. at 3.

Plaintiff also challenges the constitutionality of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act itself. As the Constitution of the United States placed “control of COMMERCE between the United States and the Indians, including [The Original Cherokee] Nation, in the hands of the U.S. CONGRESS,” plaintiff contends, Congress could not cede control over this trade relationship to the World Trade Organization. Id. The end result, the plaintiff contends, is that “the GATT TREATY, passed by the Senate, weakens the Senate power, subordinates the United States’ Sovereignty, [and] is in conflict with the Trade Relationship between the Indians and the United States of America as specified by the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.” Id.

Due to this alleged illegality, plaintiff contends, the Federal Government and the individual states are confronted with a choice: to declare theUruguay Round Agreements Act “Illegal, Null, and Void” or alternatively, to nullify the Hopewell Treaty, dismantle the United States, and permit ownership of all land and jurisdiction over that land to revert back to the “American Indian Nations from whence they came.” Id. at 3-4. The United States government and certain states have responded to plaintiffs complaint with motions to dismiss. Plaintiff has not responded to these motions.

Discussion

A. Standing: Injury in Fact:

Plaintiff has failed to demonstrate the foundational requirements for standing. To establish standing pursuant to Article III of the Constitution, plaintiff must demonstrate: (1) “injury in fact;” (2) causation; and (3) likelihood the injury can be redressed. Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, [219]*219504 U.S. 555, 560-61 (1992). The “injury in fact” must be “(a) concrete and particularized; and (b) actual or imminent, not ‘conjectural’ or ‘hypothetical.’” Id. at 560 (citations omitted). The burden falls on the plaintiff to demonstrate a live case or controversy, and at the very minimum, general factual allegations of injury resulting from defendant’s conduct. Id. at 559-62.

It is unclear how passage of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act has injured the plaintiff, or the unspecified members of The Original Cherokee Nation. Plaintiffs complaint suggests only potential and undetermined injury. The complaint provides a “Declaratory Judgment is sought regarding the Constitutionality of [the Uruguay Round Agreements] Act and the effects it could possible have on The Original Cherokee Nation and its citizens and inhabitants.” (Pl.’s Compl. for Decl. J. at 2) (emphasis added). That plaintiff seeks a declaratory judgment does not absolve him of his duty to present a justiciable claim, including the jurisdictional prerequisite that plaintiff suffer an injury in fact. Public Citizen v. Sampson, 379 F. Supp. 662, 664-66 (D.D.C. 1974), aff'd 515 F.2d 1018 (D.C. Cir. 1975).

The wording of plaintiffs claims demonstrates plaintiff has not suffered harm, nor that such harm is imminent, or even possible. Accordingly, it is difficult to see how the court may categorize plaintiffs injury as concrete. As Congress has already enacted the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, plaintiff cannot suffer injury from its future passage. Plaintiff further cannot contend his injury stems from the Act itself, as the pre-existing framework of the GATT Treaty has already substantially altered Congressional control over international trade relations.

Similarly, plaintiffs due process claim fails to provide how the actions of Congress have affected plaintiffs person or property, or why plaintiff would be entitled to such consultation with Congress. Cf. Bi-Metallic Investment Co. v. State Board of Equalization, 239 U.S. 441, 445 (1915) (finding passage of general statutes affecting persons or property does not entitle such adversely affected individuals to be heard, as their rights are protected through democratic society.)

Even if the court were to find some unlikely basis on which to find the unconstitutionality of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act has nullified the Hopewell Treaty and deprived the United States of its sovereignty, which the court does not, there is no indication plaintiff also has been harmed. Plaintiff must demonstrate as a “litigant before the court[, he] was intended to be protected, benefited, or regulated” by the Hopewell Treaty. See Autolog Corp. v. Regan, 731 F.2d 25, 29 (D.C. Cir. 1984) (zone of interests test). Plaintiff cannot demonstrate how the Act has affected him in either of these ways.

To benefit from Indian treaty rights, a litigant must belong to a tribe that has “descended from a treaty signatory and ‘ha[s] maintained an organized tribal structure.’” Greene v. United States, 996 F.2d 973, 976 (9th Cir. 1993). Plaintiff identifies himself as Chief for The Original Cherokee Nation, and cites to an exhibit to support his claim. Plaintiff’s [220]*220exhibit, however, consists solely of a document attesting to the fact that plaintiff opened a bank account on behalf of The Original Cherokee Nation one month preceding the suit. (PL’s Pet. for Deck J. Ex. A.) Plaintiff does not indicate the membership of The Original Cherokee Nation, nor its relationship to other, federally-recognized Cherokee tribes.

Part 83, title 25, Code of Federal Regulations charges the Department of the Interior through the Bureau of Indian Affairs with the duty to acknowledge the certain Native American groups that exist as tribes. 25 C.F.R. Part 83 (1995). The Bureau of Indian Affairs does not recognize The Original Cherokee Nation as an Indian Tribe. See Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible to Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, 60 Fed. Reg. 9250 (Dep’t Int. 1995) (listing all federally-acknowledged Indian tribes in United States).

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Related

Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife
504 U.S. 555 (Supreme Court, 1992)
Public Citizen v. Sampson
379 F. Supp. 662 (District of Columbia, 1974)
Autolog Corp. v. Regan
731 F.2d 25 (D.C. Circuit, 1984)
Greene v. United States
996 F.2d 973 (Ninth Circuit, 1993)

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Bluebook (online)
20 Ct. Int'l Trade 217, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cook-v-united-states-senate-cit-1996.