Federal Appeals Court Gives Indian Tribes The "Go-Ahead" To Buy Real Estate, Stiff Counties On Lawfully-Owed Property Taxes & Get Away With It

In Verona, New York, The Oneida Daily Dispatch reports:

• A three-judge panel in the Second Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that counties cannot foreclose on property owned by the Oneida Indian Nation ["OIN"] for non-payment of taxes and reaffirmed the Nation’s immunity.(1).

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• The ruling, by Judge Jose Cabranes, Robert Sack and Peter Hall, concludes that the OIN is immune from foreclosure unless Congress authorizes the lawsuit or the Nation waives its immunity.

• “The holding in this case comes down to this: An Indian tribe can purchase land — including land that was never part of a reservation; refuse to pay lawfully-owed taxes; and suffer no consequences because the taxing authority cannot sue to collect the taxes owed,” Cabranes said. “This rule of decision defies common sense. But absent action by our highest court, or by Congress, it is the law.”

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• While Madison County Attorney John Campanie said he was still reviewing the details of the court’s decision, he said it was clear that the court intends for the case to be heard before the Supreme Court. “It is probable that Madison County will act on the judges’ words and seek action to, as the judges put it, reunite law and logic,” he said. “Further, referring to the right to tax but the absence of the right to foreclose, these judges characterized this result as being ‘so anomalous’ that it ‘calls out’ for the Supreme Court action.”

For more, see Court rules that Madison and Oneida counties can’t foreclose on Oneida Indian Nation land.

For the ruling, see Oneida Indian Nation of New York v. Madison County and Oneida County, New York (2nd Cir. April 27, 2010).

(1) According to the story, the same decision was made in 2005 by U.S. District Judge David Hurd in the lawsuit between the Nation and Madison and Oneida counties. Tuesday’s ruling was a result of a 2007 appeal of the lower court’s decision.