Opinion ID: 1199656
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: THE OVERRULING OF AIRCRAFT EQUIPMENT CO. V. KIOWA TRIBE OF OKLAHOMA, 1996 OK 81, 921 P.2d 359, AND HOOVER V. KIOWA TRIBE OF OKLAHOMA, 1995 OK 136, 909 P.2d 59, CERT. DENIED, 517 U.S. 1188, 116 S.Ct. 1675, 134 L.Ed.2d 779 (1995), SHOULD BE DECIDED IN THE SUBSEQUENT, PENDING APPEALS IN THE SAME CASES.

Text: ¶ 6 Even if we treat the summary judgment as an appealable order and we decide, as a matter of law, that the Tribe did not waive its immunity to suit, this Court need not hasten, in this appeal, to overrule Aircraft Equipment Co. v. Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, 1996 OK 81, 921 P.2d 359, and Hoover v. Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, 1995 OK 136, 909 P.2d 59, cert. denied, 517 U.S. 1188, 116 S.Ct. 1675, 134 L.Ed.2d 779 (1996). This is particularly so because we have subsequent appeals out of the same cases presently pending before this Court: Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma v. Aircraft Equipment Co ., No. 97-216, judgment vacated and remanded to the Supreme Court of Oklahoma for further consideration, ___ U.S. ___, 118 S.Ct. 2058, 141 L.Ed.2d 136, [17] and Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma v. Robert M. Hoover, Jr., No. 97-2018, judgment vacated and remanded to the Supreme Court of Oklahoma for further consideration, ___ U.S. ___, 119 S.Ct. 32, 142 L.Ed.2d 25. [18] Both these remanded cases involve the settled-law-of-the-case rule. [19] If the settled-law-of-the-case is to be overruled, it should be done in these subsequent, pending appeals, remanded by the United States Supreme Court for further consideration in light of Manufacturing Technologies. Careful consideration of the settled-law-of-the-case in these subsequent appeals is consistent with the doctrine of stare decisis [20] and the recognition in part II of the Manufacturing Technologies opinion that tribal immunity is an assumption of federal common law developed by obiter dictum that became a doctrine by passing judicial acquiesce. [21] ¶ 7 According to Manufacturing Technologies, the Oklahoma courts have no jurisdiction over a contract claim against the Tribe, unless Congress abrogates the federal common law rule of tribal immunity or the Tribe waives tribal immunity. Hoover v. Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, 1998 OK 23, 957 P.2d 81, judgment vacated and remanded, ___ U.S. ___, 119 S.Ct. 32, 142 L.Ed.2d 25, presented an in-depth consideration of historical acts of Congress that settled the status of Indian tribes in Oklahoma at statehood  acts whereby Congress subjected Indian citizens and Indian tribes to the sovereignty of the State of Oklahoma, with specific exceptions, and thereby abrogated any federal common law tribal immunity. Congress did not leave tribal immunity intact when it authorized Oklahoma to enter the Union and the Manufacturing Technologies Court did not consider the acts of Congress leading to Oklahoma statehood. Because Manufacturing Technologies effectively erodes the plenary power of the Oklahoma courts and hence the sovereignty of the State of Oklahoma, we should take every precaution against expansive application of its ruling. [22] It is unnecessary and unwise to disturb the settled-law-of-the-case in Hoover or Aircraft in this appeal.