Opinion ID: 25026
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Tribal Council Members

Text: 7 This Court reviews de novo whether an official is entitled to sovereign immunity. Beck v. Tex. State Bd. of Dental Exam'rs, 204 F.3d 629, 633 (5th Cir. 2000); see also Baker Elec. Coop., Inc. v. Haske, 28 F.3d 1466, 1471 (8th Cir. 1994)(stating that immunity of tribal officials is subject to de novo review). 8 The district court relied on TTEA v. Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo, 181 F.3d 676 (5th Cir. 1999), in ruling that the tribal council members were not entitled to sovereign immunity against the oil companies' declaratory judgment suit. But the tribal council members assert that this reliance was misplaced and attempt to distinguish not only TTEA but also Puyallup Tribe, Inc. v. Department of Game of State of Washington, 433 U.S. 165, 97 S. Ct. 2616, 53 L. Ed. 2d 667 (1977), and Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49, 98 S. Ct. 1670, 56 L. Ed. 2d 106 (1978). They argue that in each of those cases, the plaintiffs sought to enjoin the defendant tribal officials from carrying out or enforcing allegedly unconstitutional or illegal acts or from overstepping their jurisdictional mandate. In the present dispute, the tribal council members contend that they were acting lawfully on behalf of the Tribe and, thus, derivatively enjoy the tribe's sovereign immunity. 2 9 The tribal council members have merely presented an encore argument before this court. Upon initially addressing this argument, the district court aptly expressed the error of the tribal council members' position. Comstock, 78 F. Supp. 2d 589, 593 (E.D. Tex. 1999)(Recent authority within the Fifth Circuit, binding on this court, indicates the Defendants' position is in error. (citing TTEA v. Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo, 181 F.3d 676 (5th Cir. 1999)). We agree with the district court. 10 The tribal council members have incorrectly characterized the import and applicability of TTEA to the case at bar. It is binding authority on this dispute. Therefore, the sundry cases that the tribal council members cite from other circuits to buttress their immunity claim, based on their allegedly having been acting within the scope of their authority, are unpersuasive and irrelevant. The district court correctly concluded that the tribal council members were not entitled to tribal sovereign immunity because, in the Fifth Circuit, tribal officials are not immune from suits for declaratory and injunctive relief. TTEA , 181 F.3d at 680-81 (reasoning that the distinct but similar concept of tribal sovereign immunity should not extend further than the now-constitutionalized doctrine of sovereign immunity, which encompasses the proposition that: State sovereign immunity does not preclude declaratory or injunctive relief against state officials). Thus, the district court did not err in concluding that the tribal council members are not entitled to sovereign immunity against the oil companies' declaratory judgment action.