Court Opinion

ID: 9603211
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:04:09.240005+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:09.558902
License: Public Domain

Rosellini, J.
(concurring) — I concur with the majority opinion that the Lummi Tribe is immune from legal action. It would not serve any useful purpose to hold otherwise because I am sure that the matter would then be taken to the federal courts and that they would sustain the immunity of the tribe. Thus, the respondent would be subject to further expense, loss of time, and litigation to no avail.
However, I believe the law should be otherwise. The present rule is unjust, unwise and unreasonable.
*243The respondent contends that it is not attempting to reach any of the assets of the tribe but only the funds which belong to Mr. Daniels, which are held by the tribe.
The tribe's position was described in the argument before the Superior Court, upon motion for reconsideration, where the following occurred:
The Court: You state very simply here that not only does LITE [Lummi Indian Tribal Enterprises] not have a sue and be sued provision in the charter, the enterprise is specifically prohibited from bringing suit or waiving immunity from suit. LITE can't do anything.
Mr. Johnsen: That's right, without the specific consent of the Council. We certainly can sympathize with the plaintiff. The tribe does not want to be thought of as a haven for people who don't pay their debts, but the issue as far as the tribe is concerned, we went back and discussed the Court's previous ruling with our client before we came back here. It's more important to them than any individual employee's debts as to whether or not they should be subject to the jurisdiction of any court. It's not just the state court, it's any court, federal, tribal, whatever, without their consent, and they told us very strongly that they didn't think they should be, that they were entitled to that exemption by law and that we should come back and ask you again to reconsider your decision. That's why we're here.
The Court: You've got some pretty good legal arguments on your side, but I really think that having the opportunity to rule in the manner which I did, and the spirit of fairness doctrine, and holding themselves out commercially, that it would be a gross injustice to deny the Writ of Garnishment in this case. And I know I've presented a square issue for you to take—
Mr. Johnsen: Afraid we'll have to take it up.
The Court: I'm sure you will, and I think the whole business community of the city should be aware of the fact that they don't want to be sued by their provision, and I as a taxpayer would certainly ask that any taxing body act reasonably and not let go of any funds or any public property being used by people who don't want to pay, don't want to be sued and will not be subject to suit if they don't want to. So I really think this thing should come to a head.
*244In the present case, the respondent obtained a judgment against the principal defendant Mike Daniels, a non-Indian. Daniels is employed by the tribe in a fish cannery operated in Bellingham on non-Indian land. Mr. Daniels earns in excess of $1,000 per month.
The United States Supreme Court said in Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49, 56 L. Ed. 2d 106, 98 S. Ct. 1670 (1978), the immunity of Indian tribes is that which has been traditionally enjoyed by sovereign powers. As such, it must be that its purpose is to protect the tribe in the exercise of its governmental powers and its jurisdiction over its own territory. But when the tribe steps outside that territory and engages in a commercial venture, the considerations which support the maintenance of sovereign immunity are no longer present. In North Dakota-Montana Wheat Growers' Ass'n v. United States, 66 F.2d 573 (8th Cir. 1933), the United States Court of Appeals recognized that courts have drawn distinctions between the action of a government in its sovereign capacity and its operations in commercial transactions generally carried on by corporations organized by the government and invested with some of the sovereign functions. It impliedly conceded that a government is not immune from suit where it organizes and operates such a business corporation. Of course, governments do not customarily carry on such businesses, and that explains the scarcity of authority upon the subject.
In my opinion, there is no sound reason why a business such as that of the garnishee defendant here should not be subject to suit. It exercises no sovereign functions but simply engages in commerce, in competition with other like businesses in the community. There is no equitable reason why it should be accorded special privileges.1 Under the *245rule of immunity, the tribe has the privilege of contracting and incurring liabilities, but it cannot be held to account if it fails to perform its undertakings. Such an anomaly hardly accords with the concept of an orderly and equally protected society.
Furthermore, the United States Supreme Court has held that when an Indian tribe engages in a commercial venture outside the reservation, it is subject to nondiscriminatory state taxes. Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones, 411 U.S. 145, 36 L. Ed. 2d 114, 93 S. Ct. 1267 (1973). There, the court said, in interpreting the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (48 Stat. 984), that it would be unrealistic to conclude that the Congress conceived of off-reservation tribal enterprises '"virtually as an arm of government'". Mescalero, at 153. It is true that, in that case, the right to tax found its basis in the State's Enabling Act. Such express provision for legal liability with respect to matters arising out of off-reservation enterprises cannot be found in our Enabling Act. Nevertheless, the equitable basis for the doctrine of Mescalero exists here, and it would seem to me that the Supreme Court's recognition of the obligation of an enterprise to pay taxes upon its operations should also extend to its legal liability for its defaults.
The law should be premised on justice and equal protection. I cannot find in this case that the law meets this standard.
Brachtenbach, J., concurs with Rosellini, J.

The 1978 Congress appropriated $60,736,099 for Washington tribal Indians. There are approximately 33,000 Indians in Washington who would receive $1,827 per person. National government spending for Indian tribes totals $1,691,517,000.
The Lummi tribal organization receives for community services $2,500,000; and in 1977 from the Environmental Protection Agency on tribal reservations, *245$1,278,000. There are other grants which the Lummi Tribe received but are not detailed. It would appear that such subsidies should compensate for any disadvantages which the tribe may suffer in the marketplace.