Dobbs v. Fond Du Lac Reservation Business Committee

Background

Loretta-Lynn Begay Dobbs, representing herself, alleged that the Fond du Lac Reservation Business Committee took her allotment lands through fraud and deception and granted easements to outside businesses without her consent. At a hearing before Magistrate Judge Leo I. Brisbois, Dobbs also explained that a tribal police officer arrested her for trespass when she attempted to enter the land. Carlton County later dismissed the trespass charge.

The Committee moved to dismiss, arguing that Dobbs had not adequately stated a claim, had not established subject-matter jurisdiction, and was barred by tribal sovereign immunity. The magistrate judge read the amended complaint broadly as asserting a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 based on the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizure, along with a similar claim under the Indian Civil Rights Act.

Court’s Analysis

The district court reviewed the magistrate judge’s recommendation because Dobbs filed objections. The court found that, except for her argument about sovereign immunity, Dobbs’s objections did not specifically address the reasons supporting dismissal.

Sovereign immunity is a legal protection that generally prevents an Indian tribe or its agency from being sued without an express waiver or an act of Congress removing the protection. The court treated sovereign immunity as a jurisdictional issue. It concluded that the Fond du Lac Reservation Business Committee, the governing body of the Fond du Lac Reservation, was entitled to that protection and that Dobbs had not alleged or shown that the Committee had waived it.

The court adopted the magistrate judge’s analysis. The recommendation also stated that the amended complaint did not show that the Committee was a “person” subject to § 1983 liability and raised doubts about whether the Committee acted under state law, but the district court’s stated basis for dismissal was the failure to show a waiver of sovereign immunity.

Disposition

Judge Susan Richard Nelson adopted the November 26, 2019 Report and Recommendation, overruled Dobbs’s objections, granted the Committee’s motion to dismiss, and dismissed the action without prejudice. The order directed that judgment be entered accordingly.