Court Opinion

ID: 9739179
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:10:03.856057+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:10.514601
License: Public Domain

HENDERSON, Justice
(concurring in part; dissenting in part).
I would reverse the order of the circuit court granting summary judgment to Het-tich and would affirm that part of the circuit court's summary judgment which denied Red Fox’s claim against Northwest G.F. Mutual Insurance.
Therefore, I concur in part and dissent in part to the majority opinion.
As I understand the posture of the majority opinion, there is territorial, subject matter and personal jurisdiction. However, Red Fox did not meet the burden of proof for establishing legislative jurisdiction; i.e., she did not pass the Montana1 test as outlined in the majority.
Basically, I would hold that under the principles of comity, the North Dakota Tribal Court’s judgment would be upheld. Mexican v. Circle Bear, 370 N.W.2d 737 (S.D.1985) (“We join with those Courts that have held that tribal court orders should be recognized in state courts under the principles of comity”); SDCL 1-1-25. I do not believe that the legal stance of Red Fox is proper under full faith and credit. Nearly one hundred years ago, the United States Supreme Court, when defining comity, stated:
“Comity,” in the legal sense, is neither a matter of absolute obligation on the one hand, nor of mere courtesy and good will upon the other. But it is the recognition which one nation allows within its territory to the legislative, executive or judicial acts of another nation, having due regard both to international duty and convenience, and to the rights of its own citizens or of other persons who are under the protection of its laws.
Hilton v. Guyot, 159 U.S. 113, 163, 16 S.Ct. 139, 143, 40 L.Ed. 95, 108 (1894); Circle Bear at 740. This definition is recognized today. Societe Nat. Ind. Aero. v. U.S. Dist. Court, 482 U.S. 522, 107 S.Ct. 2542, 96 L.Ed.2d 461 (1987); Guinness PLC v. Ward, 955 F.2d 875 (4th Cir.1992). The guidelines for comity established by Hilton2 are essentially the same as those found in SDCL 1-1-25, as cited in the majority writing.
Upon review, readers will note that the Montana test on legislative jurisdiction is not a part of either comity guidelines, nor does it need to be. In fact, comity is never addressed in Montana. Comity is not a rule of law, but one of practice, convenience, and expediency. Vagenas v. Continental Gin Co., 789 F.Supp. 1137, 1140 (M.D.Ala.1992); see generally Somportex Ltd. v. Philadelphia Chewing Gum Corp., 453 F.2d 435, 440 (3d Cir.1971).
Under the flexible principles that underlie the practice of comity, each state is permitted to establish its own set of rules for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.
Vagenas at 1140. South Dakota’s comity statute requires only subject matter and personal jurisdiction. SDCL 1-1-25. As the majority concedes, that much is established. Therefore, under our own comity statute, we should recognize the tribal court’s ruling without any further review.
Nevertheless, the majority opts to apply the facets of Montana. Precisely, where I part company with the majority opinion is that it holds the conduct of Hettich had no direct effect on the economic security or the health or welfare of the tribe. Hettich lived on the reservation; he did business with the Indians and lived in their midst; he used the Tribal Court to collect money from Indians; he negligently ran horses within the boundary of the reservation so that horses, on occasion, were running up and down the highway; such type of conduct imperils the property and life of Indi*654ans who drive upon the highways; such conduct absolutely affects the health or welfare of all members of the Tribe, Red Fox being a member of the Tribe; the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has reservation officers who must guard against such type of conduct and expend money in investigating accidents and trying to prevent such things as horses running up and down the highway creating danger. The Tribal Court entered Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law concerning the negligence of Hettich. Outside the reservation, citizens wish to protect themselves from unwanted animals trespassing upon the highway; Indians have that same desire and privilege. Specifically, the trial court found that Het-tich’s horses were on this highway on other occasions and Hettich had failed to properly secure his corral, despite its close proximity to the highway.
Almost forty years ago, we held “Defendants owed to plaintiff a duty to protect him against the hazard here involved if the danger should have been reasonably anticipated.” (Emphasis supplied mine). Eixenberger v. Belle Fourche Livestock Exchange, 75 S.D. 1, 58 N.W.2d 235 (1953). The “hazard here involved” referred to horses running freely on the highway. In 1953, this Court did not limit this case to the health and welfare of Edward M. Eix-enberger. Nor should we limit today’s holding to LaVonne Red Fox — the health and safety of all potential Standing Rock plaintiffs is at issue. Indians must travel up and down this highway to get to their homes, obtain groceries, go to the agency headquarters, attend church, see their friends.
Justice Wuest’s minority opinion recognizes that there is personal jurisdiction but would remand to the trial court to determine if there is subject matter jurisdiction. In my opinion, there are enough facts developed to make a determination on subject matter jurisdiction. Therefore, I would not remand it to the circuit court. See, Circle Bear, supra.
Circle Bear was the bellwether of comity decisions as relates to Indians tribes in this state. In my special writing, to which I still subscribe, I expressed:
I ascribe to the belief, in law, that there is a distinction between judicial comity and comity of nations. Comity is begotten from the womb of mutual respect and is not a child of obligation. We must live in mutual respect with our Indian brothers who serve on the trial courts of the various Indian reservations in South Dakota. They, in return, should likewise extend unto our courts reciprocating courtesy and respect.
Id. at 742. Here, we simply have to apply the facts of this case to our case law in South Dakota. This likewise applies to federal decisions.
“Tribal courts have repeatedly been recognized as appropriate forums for the exclusive adjudication of disputes affecting important personal and property interests of both Indians and non-Indians.” Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49, 98 S.Ct. 1670, 56 L.Ed.2d 106 (1978). Circle Bear at 741. As I understand it, the activities of non-Indians on reservation lands is an important part of tribal sovereignty. Iowa Mutual Insurance Co. v. LaPlante, 480 U.S. 9, 107 S.Ct. 971, 94 L.Ed.2d 10 (1987). Thus, jurisdiction presumptively lies within the tribal courts, unless it is affirmatively limited by a specific treaty or federal statute. Iowa Mutual, 480 U.S. at 18, 107 S.Ct. at 977, 94 L.Ed.2d at 21.
In my dissent in State ex rel. Joseph v. Redwing, 429 N.W.2d 49, 52 (S.D.1988) and my concurrence in result in Wells v. Wells, 451 N.W.2d 402, 406 (S.D.1990), I quoted from Iowa Mutual, 480 U.S. at 9, 107 S.Ct. at 972, 94 L.Ed.2d at 15:
Tribal courts play a vital role in tribal self-government, and the Federal Government has consistently encouraged their development. Although the criminal jurisdiction of the tribal courts is subject to substantial federal limitation, their civil jurisdiction is not similarly restricted. If state-court jurisdiction over Indians or activities on Indian lands would interfere with tribal sovereignty and self-government, the state courts are generally divested of jurisdiction as a *655matter of federal law. (Emphasis supplied mine).
See, Burlington Northern Railroad Co. v. Blackfeet Tribe, 924 F.2d 899 (9th Cir.1991) holding that rights of way granted to a railroad did not abrogate the right of an Indian tribe to tax the railroad.
Red Fox’s rights to justice are caught up in a complicated jurisdictional struggle. She is trying to collect a $1,780.66 judgment. Due to the circuit court’s ruling, she is without any forum to litigate her claim. As a citizen of this Republic, she is entitled to her day in court. Hettich’s theory is one of duplicity and I want no part of it: On the one hand, he uses the tribal courts to collect bills and obtain judgments from his Indian customers; on the other hand, he advocates the tribal courts cannot be used against him. Law is supposed to be used to apply fairness to fundamental truths. It should not cause us to swerve from our good purpose and a highway of reality.

. Montana v. United States, 450 U.S. 544, 101 S.Ct. 1245, 67 L.Ed.2d 493 (1981).

. The Hilton conditions have been paraphrased as follows: (1) the foreign court actually had jurisdiction over both the subject matter and the parties; (2) the decree was not obtained fraudulently; (3) the decree was rendered by a system of law reasonably assuring the requisites of an impartial administration of justice — due notice and a hearing; and (4) the judgment did not contravene the public policy of the jurisdiction in which it is relied upon. Circle Bear at 740.