Karuk Tribe of California v. United States

27 Fed. Cl. 429, 1993 U.S. Claims LEXIS 259, 1993 WL 577
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJanuary 4, 1993
DocketNo. 90-3993L
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 27 Fed. Cl. 429 (Karuk Tribe of California v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Karuk Tribe of California v. United States, 27 Fed. Cl. 429, 1993 U.S. Claims LEXIS 259, 1993 WL 577 (uscfc 1993).

Opinion

ORDER

MARGOLIS, Judge.

Two motions are before the court. The first motion is the motion of Robert D. Hostler and John M. Scott (hereinafter “applicant-intervenors”) to intervene in this action as defendants. The second motion is the defendant’s’ motion to consolidate this action with another case, Carol Ammon v. United States, No. 91-1432L. After hearing oral argument on the first motion and considering the briefs, it is hereby

ORDERED that applicant-intervenors’ motion to intervene is denied because applicants have failed to show an interest in the outcome of this litigation sufficient to grant intervention, and that defendant’s [431]*431motion to consolidate is granted. The court reaches these conclusions for the following reasons.

Motion to Intervene

Intervention as a matter of right is governed by RCFC 24(a) which requires the court to allow intervention if, upon timely application:

the applicant claims an interest relating to the property or transaction which is the subject of the action and the applicant is so situated that the disposition of the action may as a practical matter impair or impede the applicant’s ability to protect that interest, unless the applicant’s interest is adequately protected by existing parties.

RCFC 24(a)(2).

In American Maritime Transport, Inc. v. United States, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit interpreted Rule 24. To intervene as a matter of right, an applicant-intervenor must demonstrate a direct, immediate, legally protectable interest in the proceedings, such that the intervenor would “either gain or lose by the direct legal operation and effect of the judgment.” 870 F.2d 1559, 1561 (Fed.Cir.1989) (citations omitted) (emphasis in original). An interest that is either indirect or contingent is insufficient, but the rule should be interpreted to favor intervention. Id. In American Maritime, the applicant-intervenor sought to intervene in a lawsuit between a shipping company and the Maritime Administration over whether the shipping company was entitled to a subsidy pursuant to the Merchant Marine Act of 1936. The applicant-intervenor’s interest in the lawsuit was to protect itself from subsidized competition from the shipping company. 870 F.2d at 1560. The court agreed with the Claims Court finding that the applicant’s interest was contingent. The court observed that the applicant-intervenor would suffer harm from an adverse judgment only if a chain of possible but uncertain events also took place. Id. at 1561.

In this litigation, the Karuk Tribe (“Karuks”) alleges it possessed rights in an Indian Reservation known as the former Hoopa Valley Tribe Reservation. According to the Karuks, the Settlement Act of 1988, 25 U.S.C. §§ 1300i to 1300Í-11, partitioned the reservation between two other tribes, the Hoopa Valley Tribe (“Hoopas”) and the Yurok Tribe, excluding the Karuks from sharing in the reservation. The Karuk Tribe alleges that the Settlement Act effected a taking of its property without just compensation. The Tribe seeks monetary compensation from the U.S. government. At oral argument, the plaintiff stressed that it does not seek to challenge the constitutional validity of the Act; it only seeks monetary compensation for the alleged taking effected by the Act. Transcript at 20.

The applicant-intervenors are two individuals who are members of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. In asserting an interest, applicant-intervenors claim that a monetary award to the Karuk Tribe would threaten the Hoopas’ interest in enjoying the benefits of the Settlement Act. Applicant-intervenors allege that granting relief to the Karuks could cause Congress to change the Settlement Act pursuant to § 14 of the Act, or delay implementation of the Act. Section 14 of the Settlement Act requires the Secretary of the Interior to report to Congress the final outcome of any litigation resulting from the Settlement Act. 25 U.S.C. § 1300i-11(c). Applicant-intervenors are concerned that the Hoopas would not be able to challenge any modifications to the Act because they have waived claims arising out of the Act. 25 U.S.C. § 1300i-1(a)(2)(A)(i).

The interest that the applicant-intervenors assert is not direct, but indirect and contingent on other events. The direct result of a judgment in favor of the plaintiff in this case would only be a monetary award from the government to the plaintiff. In order for applicant-intervenors to be harmed by an award, Congress would have to act to modify the provisions of the Settlement Act, and to do so in such a way as to take away the Hoopa Valley Tribe’s legally protectable rights. Neither event is certain to occur. This interest is contin[432]*432gent and therefore insufficient to rise to an interest necessary to grant intervention.

The applicant-intervenors also contend that in resolving the case the court will necessarily address the validity of the Settlement Act. This is not so. The court must determine whether the Karuks are entitled to just compensation, not whether the Act was constitutional. The Karuk Tribe has stated unequivocally on the record that it is not challenging the constitutional validity of the Act. Transcript at 20.

The applicant-intervenors relied on Shermoen v. United States, No. C-90-2460, slip op. (N.D.Cal. May 23, 1991). In Shermoen, the plaintiffs were seventy American Indians who challenged the constitutionality of the Settlement Act on the grounds it impaired their constitutional rights. Shermoen, slip op. at 1. The Shermoen court found the Hoopa Valley Tribe and the Yurok Tribe, as beneficiaries of the Settlement Act, to be indispensable parties to the action because they had legally protectable interests in the action. The court dismissed the case for failure to join indispensable parties.

The Shermoen case is distinguishable because the plaintiffs’ claims were different from those in this case. In this case, the Karuks do not seek a determination that the Settlement Act is unconstitutional, but a monetary award for an unconstitutional taking. The Shermoen court stated in its decision that, “[t]his is not a situation where plaintiffs merely seek monetary relief to compensate them for what they contend is an unconstitutional taking; rather, it is an equitable action in which plaintiffs seek to have the land itself returned.” Id. at 12. The decision implies that the outcome of the case would have been different had the plaintiffs been seeking merely a monetary award.

The applicant-intervenors also cite Oneida Indian Nation v. New York, 732 F.2d 261 (2d Cir.1984). The Oneida plaintiffs were Indian tribes who brought the action to declare their title to and recover possession of five million acres of land in New York State. Id. at 264. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit permitted other tribes to intervene as of right on the grounds that an adverse decision could, through stare decisis, preclude the intervenors from vindicating their interests in a later suit.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Osage Tribe v. United States
85 Fed. Cl. 162 (Federal Claims, 2008)
Prati v. United States
82 Fed. Cl. 373 (Federal Claims, 2008)
United Keetoowah Band v. United States
78 Fed. Cl. 303 (Federal Claims, 2007)
d'Abrera v. United States
78 Fed. Cl. 51 (Federal Claims, 2007)
Wolfchild v. United States
72 Fed. Cl. 511 (Federal Claims, 2006)
Lucent Technologies Inc. v. United States
69 Fed. Cl. 512 (Federal Claims, 2006)
AT & T Corp. v. United States
69 Fed. Cl. 547 (Federal Claims, 2006)
Boston Edison Co. v. United States
67 Fed. Cl. 63 (Federal Claims, 2005)
Manhattan Construction Co. v. United States
66 Fed. Cl. 299 (Federal Claims, 2005)
Klamath Irrigation District v. United States
64 Fed. Cl. 328 (Federal Claims, 2005)
Entergy Nuclear Indian Point 2, LLC v. United States
62 Fed. Cl. 798 (Federal Claims, 2004)
Cienega Gardens v. United States
62 Fed. Cl. 28 (Federal Claims, 2004)
John R. Sand & Gravel Co. v. United States
59 Fed. Cl. 645 (Federal Claims, 2004)
Karuk Tribe v. Ammon
209 F.3d 1366 (Federal Circuit, 2000)
Hage v. United States
35 Fed. Cl. 737 (Federal Claims, 1996)
Karuk Tribe of California v. United States
28 Fed. Cl. 694 (Federal Claims, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
27 Fed. Cl. 429, 1993 U.S. Claims LEXIS 259, 1993 WL 577, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/karuk-tribe-of-california-v-united-states-uscfc-1993.