Opinion ID: 169489
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Discretionary Enforcement With Respect to Mr. Atcitty

Text: Although the Navajo district court arguably possessed regulatory authority over Mr. Atcitty as a member of the Navajo Nation, as previously emphasized, the decision whether to enforce the tribal court orders in regard to Mr. Atcitty lies entirely within our discretion. Under the limited circumstances of this case, we choose not to enforce the tribal court orders in this respect. [11] Several considerations guide our decision. First, as the district court observed, Utah Navajo Health Systems's assumption of control over the operations of the Clinic and Plaintiffs' employment there mooted much, though not all, of the relief afforded in the preliminary injunction orders. Also, while we are not required to refrain from enforcing interlocutory foreign judgments, see Remington Rand Corp. v. Bus. Sys. Inc., 830 F.2d 1260, 1266 (3d Cir.1987) ([J]udicial acts need not always be final judgments to be granted comity.) (citing In re Colorado Corp., 531 F.2d 463, 469 (10th Cir.1976)); Restatement (Second) Conflict of Laws § 92 and cmt. c, § 98 (1971), the amorphous and incomplete nature of the orders at issue renders them nearly incapable of enforcement. Much of the relief that is not now moot has not been reduced to a sum certain; consequently, determining what portions of the orders are amenable to enforcement would be impracticable. Third, despite the fact that Mr. Atcitty's status as an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation arguably imbued the Navajo district court with civil jurisdiction, the activities for which he was sued have little or nothing to do with his status as an enrolled member of the tribe. Normally the lack of a nexus between tribal membership and the claims at issue will not necessarily pose an impediment to enforcement, but here the lawsuit against Mr. Atcitty stems completely from his status as a government employee of the State of Utah. Thus, the same considerations which lead us to conclude that the tribes do not possess jurisdiction over States qua States on state land lead us to conclude that enforcement against Mr. Atcitty should be refused. Finally, it appears that Mr. Atcitty played an extremely minor role in the incidents at issue. His role was confined to membership on SJHSD's board, and he is not even mentioned by name in any of the preliminary injunction orders. Thus, it would be inequitable to enforce the Navajo district court's extremely broad orders against him alone. [12] In sum, we REVERSE the federal district court insofar as it issued a declaratory judgment that the Navajo Nation possessed civil jurisdiction over the employment-related claims of Mr. Riggs and Mr. Singer against SJHSD. We also REVERSE the district court insofar as it issued a declaratory judgment that the Navajo Nation possessed civil jurisdiction over Mr. Riggs's defamation claim against Reid Wood. We VACATE the district court's issuance of a declaratory judgment that the Navajo Nation possessed civil jurisdiction over Plaintiffs' claims against Roger Atcitty. Finally, we AFFIRM the district court's judgment refusing to enforce the Navajo district court's orders.