Court Opinion

ID: 9429628
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:27:23.684876+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:20.602177
License: Public Domain

Justice Rehnquist,
with whom Justice Stevens joins,
dissenting.
The highest state court in North Dakota has made a decision on the scope of state-court jurisdiction, a decision based on a state statute passed following amendment of the State Constitution. The question is clearly one of state law, immune from our review except in so far as it might be preempted by federal law or in conflict with the United States Constitution. The Court today does not say that Chapter 27-19, as interpreted by the North Dakota Supreme Court, is pre-empted by federal law. Nor does the Court find that statute unconstitutional. Yet the Court vacates the judgment below because Pub. L. 280 neither “authorized” nor “required” any disclaimer of pre-existing state jurisdiction.
I do not disagree with the Court’s essay on the purpose and effect of Pub. L. 280. But I fail to see its relevance to the state-law issues decided by the court below. Accordingly, I would affirm the judgment of the North Dakota court *160because the only federal question actually before us — the constitutionality of North Dakota’s refusal to exercise jurisdiction over a lawsuit brought by an Indian tribe — is insubstantial.
In Part II-A of its opinion, the Court argues that state-court jurisdiction over this case would have been proper, as a matter of both federal and North Dakota law, prior to the passage of Pub. L. 280 and that nothing in Pub. L. 280 should have changed that situation. In Part II-B, the Court parlays the eclipse of this “residual jurisdiction” into a reason for concluding that the North Dakota Supreme Court may have misunderstood Pub. L. 280 when it interpreted Chapter 27-19. The linchpin of the entire argument is the 1957 case of Vermillion v. Spotted Elk, 85 N. W. 2d 432, in which the North Dakota court took an expansive view of the scope of state-court jurisdiction over suits by and against Indians in Indian country. The Court today correctly states that the jurisdiction claimed in Vermillion — over all civil actions arising in Indian country, except those involving interests in Indian lands — would embrace this case. Ante, at 147. But the argument for residual jurisdiction which the Court constructs around Vermillion is wholly untenable for the simple reason that the expansive jurisdiction of Vermillion was discredited, two years after it was claimed, by our decision in Williams v. Lee, 358 U. S. 217 (1959).
Both the specific holding and the broad dictum of Vermillion were pre-empted by Williams v. Lee.1 The North Dakota court exercised jurisdiction in Vermillion over a suit arising out of a car accident on an Indian reservation in which all the parties were reservation Indians. The principles of tribal autonomy recognized in Williams v. Lee clearly pre-*161elude such an intrusion into strictly tribal affairs without affirmative legislative action pursuant to Pub. L. 280. See Fisher v. District Court, 424 U. S. 382 (1976). And the expansive claim made in Vermillion to jurisdiction over all civil actions arising in Indian country, except those involving interests in Indian lands, cannot be squared with the requirement that such jurisdiction be assumed by legislative action pursuant to Pub. L. 280.
In short, at the time Chapter 27-19 was passed, four years after Williams v. Lee, Vermillion was not in any sense good law. The “lawfully assumed jurisdiction,” ante, at 150, which the Court thinks must have survived both Pub. L. 280 and Chapter 27-19, was in fact unlawfully assumed and therefore invalid. The fact that Chapter 27-19 appears to expand state jurisdiction over Indian country rather than to contract it must be understood, not in light of Vermillion, but in light of the intervening, superseding decision of this Court in Williams v. Lee. The North Dakota Legislature was effectively starting from “square one” in asserting jurisdiction over civil actions in Indian country when it passed Chapter 27-19. Thus, since the assumption of jurisdiction in Chapter 27-19 was predicated on tribal consent, which has not been forthcoming, the North Dakota Supreme Court could naturally and properly conclude that there was no state-court jurisdiction in this ease.2
The Court glosses over this obvious difficulty in its argument by simply recasting Vermillion to fit its needs.
“To be sure the full breadth of state-court jurisdiction recognized in Vermillion cannot be squared with principles of tribal autonomy; to the extent that Vermillion permitted North Dakota state courts to exercise jurisdiction over claims by non-Indians against Indians or *162over claims between Indians, it intruded impermissibly on tribal self-governance. . . . This Court, however, repeatedly has approved the exercise of jurisdiction by state courts over claims by Indians against non-Indians, even when those claims arose in Indian country.” Ante, at 148.
In accordance with its view of what the North Dakota courts could have done compatibly with federal law, the Court proceeds to treat Vermillion as if it had in fact only claimed jurisdiction over suits by Indians against non-Indians. Thus, the Court says that nothing in Pub. L. 280 “required North Dakota to disclaim the basic jurisdiction recognized in Vermillion or authorized it to do so,” ante, at 150, and that “no federal law or policy required the North Dakota courts to forgo the jurisdiction recognized in Vermillion in this case,” ante, at 151. The Court even refers to the jurisdiction of Vermillion as “otherwise lawfully assumed jurisdiction.” Ante, at 150.
I must confess to being nonplussed by the Court’s treatment of Vermillion. It seems strange, indeed, to suppose that Vermillion is in some sense good law — when neither its holding nor its reasoning is acceptable under federal law— merely because the opinion would be acceptable if it had been written altogether differently and reached an opposite result. The fact remains that it was not written differently and did not reach the opposite result.
The North Dakota court improperly tried to assert jurisdiction over all civil actions arising in Indian country, except those involving interests in Indian lands. That attempt having failed, there is no indication that North Dakota would have accepted the one-way jurisdiction sought by petitioner in this case, whereby Indians can sue non-Indians but not vice versa. And the fact that our cases would have permitted the assumption of such jurisdiction is simply beside the point. Nothing in the Enabling Act, the State Constitution, *163or Pub. L. 280 compelled North Dakota to grant Indians the right to sue non-Indians in state court in situations where non-Indians could not sue Indians. And it is sheer speculation to suppose that the State would have done so.3
Without Vermillion the Court’s argument in Part II-B simply crumbles. For without some sort of plausible “residual jurisdiction” that would cover this case, Pub. L. 280 constitutes an affirmative bar to the assumption of jurisdiction by the North Dakota court. Any jurisdiction over Indian country assumed by an option State following passage of Pub. L. 280 must be assumed in accordance with the requirements of Pub. L. 280. It must be assumed, that is, by affirmative legislative action; state courts are powerless to act *164on their own initiative. As we stated in Kennerly v. District Court of Montana, 400 U. S. 423, 427 (1971):
“[T]he requirement of affirmative legislative action [was not] an idle choice of words; the legislative history of the 1953 statute shows that the requirement was intended to assure that state jurisdiction would not be extended until the jurisdictions to be responsible for the portion of Indian country concerned manifested by political action their willingness and ability to discharge their new responsibilities.”
North Dakota took affirmative legislative action in passing Chapter 27-19, but conditioned its assumption of jurisdiction on tribal consent. Since that consent has not been forthcoming, North Dakota has not assumed any additional jurisdiction over Indian country under Pub. L. 280. See Washington v. Yakima Indian Nation, 439 U. S. 463, 499 (1979). North Dakota courts therefore have no authority to unilaterally augment their jurisdiction by entertaining suits either by or against Indians in actions arising on Indian lands. Fisher v. District Court, 424 U. S., at 388-389; Kennerly, supra, at 427.4 Unless, therefore, such jurisdiction was “assumed prior to and apart from Pub. L. 280,” ante, at 151, an assumption I find untenable for the reasons given, Pub. L. 280 precludes the exercise of jurisdiction in this case.5
*165I might finally add that even if one did posit a truncated Vermillion as somehow providing the residual jurisdiction necessary to the Court’s argument until eclipsed by the North Dakota Legislature, there is still no indication and the Court offers no good reason to believe that the North Dakota Supreme Court interpreted Chapter 27-19 under any misapprehensions about Pub. L. 280. The North Dakota court in fact shows a perfectly clear appreciation of both the purpose and effect of Pub. L. 280.
“The purpose of Public Law 280 was to facilitate the transfer of jurisdictional responsibility to the states. Washington v. Confederated Bands and Tribes, 439 U. S. 463, 505 (1979). It permitted states to amend their constitutions or existing statutes to remove any legal impediments to the assumption of civil and criminal jurisdiction, and thereby to unilaterally assume jurisdiction over criminal and civil matters within the exterior boundaries of Indian reservations within the states taking such action.” 321 N. W. 2d 510, 511 (1982).
This statement of the law is unexceptionable. Indeed, the Court’s own statement of the purpose and effect of Pub. L. 280, see ante, at 150, reads like a paraphrase of the above passage.
The North Dakota court never even remotely implies that Pub. L. 280 “required” the State to eliminate any preexisting, lawfully assumed jurisdiction. The focus is rather on the passage of Chapter 27-19 by the state legislature. See n. 3, supra. And as to whether the court may have mistakenly thought that Pub. L. 280 “authorized” such a disclaimer of jurisdiction by the State, I cannot see how that question is relevant at all. Either a disclaimer of pre-existing jurisdiction was forbidden by federal law or it was not. If not, and *166the majority does not imply that it was, then there is no additional requirement that it be affirmatively sanctioned. A State is not obliged to play “Mother, may I” with the Federal Government before retroceding jurisdiction that, under our cases, could have been retained.
In my view, therefore, the only federal question presented in this case is whether North Dakota’s failure to permit Indians to sue non-Indians in circumstances under which non-Indians could not sue Indians violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. After our decision in Washington v. Yakima Indian Nation, supra, that question is not a substantial one. See n. 5, supra. Access to the North Dakota courts is within the power of petitioner. The Tribe need merely consent to the full civil jurisdiction which North Dakota, pursuant to Pub. L. 280, stands ready to offer them. Petitioner wants to enjoy the full benefits of the state courts as plaintiff without ever running the risk of appearing as defendant. The Equal Protection Clause mandates no such result.
I respectfully dissent.

 In Williams, a non-Indian who operated a store on an Indian reservation in Arizona sued an Indian couple to collect goods sold to them on credit. We held that principles of tribal autonomy precluded the Arizona courts from entertaining the suit in the absence of an affirmative assumption of jurisdiction by the state legislature. 358 U. S., at 222.

 In Washington v. Yakima Indian Nation, 439 U. S. 463, 495 (1979), we held that “any option State can condition the assumption of full jurisdiction on the consent of an affected tribe” even though not required to do so by Pub. L. 280.

 The North Dakota court’s subsequent treatment of Vermillion provides a strong indication that the court would never, as a matter of state law, have recognized the one-sided jurisdiction sought by petitioner and permitted by federal law. As noted, the jurisdiction claimed in Vermillion under state law was invalid under Williams v. Lee as pre-empted by federal law. That same jurisdiction was also disclaimed as a matter of state law by the passage of Chapter 27-19. See 321 N. W. 2d 510, 511 (N. D. 1982).
Chapter 27-19 provides that “jurisdiction of the state of North Dakota shall be extended over all civil causes of action which arise on an Indian reservation upon acceptance by Indian citizens in a manner provided by this chapter.” N. D. Cent. Code §27-19-01 (1974). A later provision excepts from this jurisdiction suits involving interests in Indian lands. § 27-19-08. Thus, the jurisdiction which North Dakota stands ready to accept under Chapter 27-19 is exactly coterminous with that claimed in Vermillion.
If Vermillion had been good law, Chapter 27-19 would have been entirely superfluous. Following the passage of Chapter 27-19, therefore, the North Dakota court could reasonably conclude that the legislature had disclaimed (i. e., renounced any claim to) the jurisdiction wrongfully usurped in Vermillion except on consent of the affected tribes. And the fact that the court concluded that all the jurisdiction of Vermillion had been disclaimed indicates that, as a matter of state law, the court views the jurisdiction of Vermillion as an all-or-nothing, reciprocal proposition. Again, it is irrelevant that our cases would have -permitted the State to assert one-sided, residual jurisdiction.' The State was not obliged to accept the invitation.

 For this reason, the Court’s reliance on Nelson v. Dubois, 232 N. W. 2d 54 (N. D. 1975), and Schantz v. White Lightning, 231 N. W. 2d 812 (N. D. 1975), see ante, at 155-156, and n. 14, for the proposition that the North Dakota Supreme Court may have misread federal law is misplaced. In so far as North Dakota has not already assumed lawful jurisdiction over suits arising in Indian country, either prior to Pub. L. 280 or pursuant to the terms of that statute, federal law does act “as an affirmative bar to the exercise of jurisdiction here,” ante, at 155.

 Obviously, if Pub. L. 280 would preclude a judicial assumption of jurisdiction in this case, then the North Dakota Supreme Court properly disposed of petitioner’s equal protection argument with a simple citation to Washington v. Yakima Indian Nation, 439 U. S., at 500-501, in which we rejected a similar challenge to a Washington statute which conditioned *165state jurisdiction over Indian lands in some subject-matter areas on Indian consent. It would also follow that the lower court’s handling of the equal protection claim does not, as the Court would have it, ante, at 154, reflect any misunderstanding of federal law.