Opinion ID: 167828
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Collateral Estoppel-Due Process Considerations

Text: 47 The Burrells focus most of their attention on an alleged lack of fairness during the proceedings before the tribal court. The Burrells maintain that the tribal court refused to allow discovery pertaining to the tribal council's records of its meetings; the Pueblo's form of government, including the separation of powers between the tribal council, tribal officials, and the cacique that appoints them; 7 the tribal court's code of laws; and the existence of a tribal court system based on principles of stare decisis. Aplt. Br. at 19. The Burrells assert that the Pueblo has a corrupt, totalitarian form of government that lacks a regular code of laws and allows tribal judges to serve entirely at the whim of tribal officials. The Burrells point out that the first tribal judge failed to make any rulings for almost four years, and they assert that the second tribal judge acted upon an incomplete record, 8 ignored their motions, and simply issued a one-page order dismissing their case on sovereign immunity grounds. Finally, the Burrells argue that they were entitled to basic due process rights, including rights to a fair hearing and an impartial tribal judge. 9 They believe that the district court had a responsibility to review the tribal court's handling of their case because it involves a dispute over a federal lease and alleged violations of civil rights. 48 In denying the Burrells' motion to declare the tribal court decision null and void, the district court observed that the Ninth Circuit, following principles of comity utilized for recognition of foreign judgments, refuses to enforce tribal court judgments if the tribal court denied a litigant due process. App. at 197 (citing AT & T Corp., 295 F.3d 899; Bird, 255 F.3d 1136). The district court, however, ruled that a federal court's authority to readjudicate issues resolved in tribal court because of a due process failure was contrary to the Supreme Court's decisions in Iowa Mutual and National Farmers. Id. at 198. In the alternative, the district court reached the merits of the Burrells' argument and ruled that they were afforded sufficient due process. Id. The district court noted that the tribal court provided the Burrells two days of hearings, and stated that they were not deprived of due process merely because the tribal court ruled on sovereign immunity without ruling on the Burrells' pending motions. Id. 49 We disagree with the district court's conclusion that the Burrells could not challenge the tribal court's judgment based on due process considerations. The Supreme Court's decisions in Iowa Mutual and National Farmers do not address due process; rather, they hold that principles of comity require a federal court to give a tribal court the first opportunity to determine its own jurisdiction, subject to later review by a federal court. Iowa Mut., 480 U.S. at 19, 107 S.Ct. 971; National Farmers, 471 U.S. at 857, 105 S.Ct. 2447. Here, we conclude that both principles of comity applicable to the recognition of foreign judgments, and the collateral estoppel doctrine's requirement that a litigant have a full and fair opportunity to litigate an issue, are relevant to the case at hand. 50 In MacArthur v. San Juan County, we cited the Ninth Circuit's decision in Wilson v. Marchington, which found two mandatory grounds for refusing to recognize and enforce a tribal court judgment. MacArthur, 309 F.3d at 1225. Specifically, the Ninth Circuit held, citing principles of comity, that a federal court should neither recognize nor enforce a tribal judgment if the tribal court lacked personal or subject matter jurisdiction, or if the defendant was denied due process of law. Marchington, 127 F.3d at 810. We still find Marchington instructive. 51 As to the due process ground, the Ninth Circuit determined that due process encompassed 52 that there has been opportunity for a full and fair trial before an impartial tribunal that conducts the trial upon regular proceedings after proper service or voluntary appearance of the defendant, and that there is no showing of prejudice in the tribal court or in the system of governing laws. Further, . . . evidence that the judiciary was dominated by the political branches of government or by an opposing litigant, or that a party was unable to obtain counsel, or secure documents or attendance of witnesses, or to have access to appeal or review, would support a conclusion that the legal system was one whose judgments are not entitled to recognition. 53 Id. at 811 (citing Hilton v. Guyot, 159 U.S. 113, 202-03, 16 S.Ct. 139, 40 L.Ed. 95 (1895); Restatement (Third) of Foreign Relations Law of the United States § 482 & cmt. b (1986)); see also Bird, 255 F.3d at 1152 (applying Marchington to hold that a closing argument in tribal court offended due process). While describing these basic due process tenets, the Ninth Circuit cautioned that comity did not require a tribe [to] utilize judicial procedures identical to those used in the United States Courts and that federal courts should be careful to respect tribal jurisprudence along with the special customs and practical limitations of tribal court systems. Id. 54 Additionally, we observe that our collateral estoppel jurisprudence is consistent with the notion that due process concerns are relevant in assessing whether to recognize a tribal court judgment. See Crocog Co. v. Reeves, 992 F.2d 267, 270 (10th Cir.1993) (stating that due process requires that a party have a full and fair opportunity to litigate its case) (citing Kremer v. Chem. Constr. Corp., 456 U.S. 461, 482-83 & n. 24, 102 S.Ct. 1883, 72 L.Ed.2d 262 (1982)). 55 Collateral estoppel, or, as it is often known, issue preclusion, bars a party from relitigating an issue once it has suffered an adverse determination on the issue, even if the issue arises when the party is pursuing or defending against a different claim. Park Lake Res., Ltd. Liab. Co. v. U.S. Dep't of Agric., 378 F.3d 1132, 1136 (10th Cir.2004). In this circuit, application of issue preclusion requires four elements: 56 (1) the issue previously decided is identical with the one presented in the action in question, (2) the prior action has been finally adjudicated on the merits, (3) the party against whom the doctrine is invoked was a party, or in privity with a party, to the prior adjudication, and (4) the party against whom the doctrine is raised had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue in the prior action. 57 Dodge v. Cotter Corp., 203 F.3d 1190, 1198 (10th Cir.2000) (citation omitted) (emphasis added). 10 58 As to the `inquiry into whether a party had a full and fair opportunity to litigate an issue . . . [we] focus on whether there were significant procedural limitations in the prior proceeding, whether the party had the incentive to litigate fully the issue, or whether effective litigation was limited by the nature or relationship of the parties.' Murdock v. Ute Indian Tribe of Uintah & Ouray Reservation, 975 F.2d 683, 689 (10th Cir.1992) (internal citation omitted); see also Bell v. Dillard Dep't Stores, 85 F.3d 1451, 1456 (10th Cir.1996) (listing several authorities for the proposition that a lack of opportunity to appeal may weigh against finding that a party had a full and fair opportunity to litigate an issue). 59 Under the circumstances present in this case, we conclude that both principles of comity and the full and fair opportunity to litigate element of the collateral estoppel doctrine weigh against recognizing the tribal court's sovereign immunity decision. As an initial matter, we note that the close relationship between the tribal court, the Pueblo, and the individual tribal officials causes us to carefully scrutinize the tribal court proceedings in this case. 60 First, the procedural posture leading up to the tribal court's ruling gives this court pause. Although the first tribal judge conducted two days of evidentiary hearings, he failed to make any rulings on the parties' pending motions after four years. This provides some evidence that the Burrells did not have a forum to fully and fairly litigate their claims. Further, when the Burrells returned to the tribal court, they encountered a new tribal judge who had not presided over the two days of hearings. Whether the new judge had reviewed or had any knowledge of the testimony from those hearings is unclear, but the record reflects that the first tribal judge never responded to the parties' request for a transcript of the proceedings. Without any further hearings or ruling on any other pending motions, the second tribal judge issued a one-page order granting the Pueblo sovereign immunity (and presumably extending the Pueblo's immunity to the individual tribal officials), and dismissed the Burrells' claims. This one-page order contained no reference to any testimony from the evidentiary hearing, or for that matter any explanation of the tribal court's reasoning. 61 Second, we are troubled by the lack of a tribal appellate court to review the second tribal judge's decision. At one point in the litigation, counsel for the Pueblo and individual tribal officials suggested that exhaustion would not be complete until the Burrells pursued an appeal before the tribal council, presided over by the governor. App. at 204. Counsel later corrected that statement, noting that when the tribal council created the Contemporary Tribal Court, it did not provide for any appeal to the tribal council. Id. Not only do counsel's statements demonstrate the unavailability of any appellate review, they shed light on the nature of the relationship between the tribal court and the named defendants in this action. 62 In reaching our decision, we emphasize that federal courts are not the general appellate body for tribal courts. As the Supreme Court has instructed, the federal policies promoting tribal self-government and self-determination instruct us to provide great deference to tribal court systems, their practices, and procedures. See, e.g., Nat'l Farmers, 471 U.S. at 856, 105 S.Ct. 2447. This heed we do not take lightly. Moreover, we firmly reject the Burrells' position that the district court had a duty to monitor the proceedings before the tribal court. 63 Given our conclusion that the tribal court's decision is not entitled to recognition under either principles of comity or collateral estoppel, we proceed to address the merits of the sovereign immunity issue.