Opinion ID: 787567
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Heading: Failure to Exhaust Tribal Court Remedies

Text: 8 Although  § 1331 encompasses the federal question whether a tribal court has exceeded the lawful limits of its jurisdiction,... exhaustion is required before such a claim may be entertained by a federal court. Nat'l Farmers Union, 471 U.S. at 857, 105 S.Ct. 2447. A federal court must give the tribal court a full opportunity to determine its own jurisdiction, which includes exhausting opportunities for appellate review in tribal courts. Iowa Mut. Ins. Co. v. LaPlante, 480 U.S. 9, 16-17, 107 S.Ct. 971, 94 L.Ed.2d 10 (1987); see also Selam v. Warm Springs Tribal Corr. Facility, 134 F.3d 948, 954 (9th Cir.1998) (holding that the district court properly required exhaustion, including tribal appellate review, before entertaining an ICRA habeas petition). 9 Exhaustion is prudential; it is required as a matter of comity, not as a jurisdictional prerequisite. Strate v. A-1 Contractors, 520 U.S. 438, 451, 117 S.Ct. 1404, 137 L.Ed.2d 661 (1997); LaPlante, 480 U.S. at 16 n. 8, 107 S.Ct. 971. Exhaustion is not required where the action is patently violative of express jurisdictional prohibitions, Nat'l Farmers Union, 471 U.S. at 856 n. 21, 105 S.Ct. 2447, or it is otherwise plain that the tribal court lacks jurisdiction over the dispute, such that adherence to the exhaustion requirement would serve no purpose other than delay. Nevada v. Hicks, 533 U.S. 353, 369, 121 S.Ct. 2304, 150 L.Ed.2d 398 (2001); Strate, 520 U.S. at 459-60 n. 14, 117 S.Ct. 1404. Likewise, exhaustion is not required where an assertion of tribal jurisdiction is motivated by a desire to harass or is conducted in bad faith ... or where exhaustion would be futile because of the lack of an adequate opportunity to challenge the court's jurisdiction. Nat'l Farmers Union, 471 U.S. at 856 n. 21, 105 S.Ct. 2447. 10 Boozer argues that he need not exhaust tribal court remedies because it is plain that the tribal court lacks jurisdiction under ICWA's jurisdictional provisions and because exhaustion would be futile. 11 Boozer's argument that the tribe clearly lacks jurisdiction under ICWA is without merit. ICWA provides: 12 An Indian tribe shall have jurisdiction exclusive as to any State over any child custody proceeding involving an Indian child who resides or is domiciled within the reservation of such tribe, except where such jurisdiction is otherwise vested in the State by existing Federal law. Where an Indian child is a ward of a tribal court, the Indian tribe shall retain exclusive jurisdiction, notwithstanding the residence or domicile of the child. 13 25 U.S.C. § 1911(a) (emphasis added). Boozer argues that even if K.W.B. resides on the Colville reservation, there is plainly no jurisdiction in the tribal court, because she is legally domiciled in Georgia. 3 By so arguing, Boozer mistakenly reads the word resides out of § 1911(a). 14 To support his argument, Boozer relies on Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield, 490 U.S. 30, 109 S.Ct. 1597, 104 L.Ed.2d 29 (1989), but he misunderstands the holding of that case. In Holyfield, it was uncontested that two Indian children given up for adoption never resided on the reservation. The Court held that the tribe had exclusive jurisdiction over the custody proceeding because the children legally were domiciled on the Indian reservation where their parents were domiciled. 490 U.S. at 47-51, 109 S.Ct. 1597. Holyfield observed that the main effect of [ICWA] is to curtail state authority over child custody proceedings involving Indian children, id. at 45 n. 17, 109 S.Ct. 1597, and ICWA's purpose was, in part, to make clear that in certain situations the state courts did not have jurisdiction over child custody proceedings. Id. at 45, 109 S.Ct. 1597 (emphasis in the original). Holyfield did not hold that domicile trumped residency, but rather followed ICWA's plain statement that either residence or domicile on the reservation vests the tribal courts with jurisdiction over the child custody proceeding. 15 Because K.W.B. may reside on the Colville reservation, conducting the custody proceeding in tribal court is not patently violative of express jurisdictional prohibitions, Nat'l Farmers Union, 471 U.S. at 856 n. 21, 105 S.Ct. 2447, nor is it otherwise plain that the tribal courts lack jurisdiction over the dispute. Hicks, 533 U.S. at 369, 121 S.Ct. 2304. 4 16 Likewise, we find Boozer's argument that exhaustion is futile unpersuasive. Boozer relies on the delay in the determination of K.W.B.'s custody. Although [d]elay alone is not ordinarily sufficient to show that pursuing tribal remedies is futile, Johnson v. Gila River Indian Cmty., 174 F.3d 1032, 1036 (9th Cir.1999), we conclude that unreasonable delay in the custody determination would be sufficient, standing alone, to render futile exhaustion of tribal court remedies because the harm alleged is lost parenting time that can never be regained. Nonetheless, Boozer made no effort to exhaust tribal court remedies before filing a federal claim. Boozer filed suit in federal court only six days after Wilder-Boozer died, five days after the grandparents requested custody, and four days after he filed a motion in tribal court requesting that the court lift the order prohibiting Boozer from contacting K.W.B., in which he did not contest the tribal court's jurisdiction to determine K.W.B.'s custody. 17 Moreover, some delay is inevitable if any court is to adjudicate K.W.B.'s custody. The tribal court promptly held a hearing on K.W.B.'s custody on June 16, 2003, after which it ordered measures that could have led to reunification of Boozer and K.W.B., including visitation, counseling, and mediation. It is possible that this unfortunate dispute already would have been resolved if there were not dueling tribal and federal proceedings. There is no evidence that the Tribe is not competent to handle the dispute, will not offer Boozer a fair opportunity to regain custody of K.W.B., or will not act in the child's best interests. Boozer repeatedly has subjected himself to the jurisdiction of the tribal court in the past. Although we are troubled by the year that K.W.B. has spent wondering who will raise her, the delay is not yet sufficient for us to conclude that exhaustion of tribal court remedies would be futile.