MIDTERM EXAM NAS 364 FEDERAL INDIAN LAW FALL 2015

You have one week to finish this exam. It will be due by e-mail to marlon.sherman@humboldt.edu, no later than 5 PM on Wednesday, October 28.

The exam will take the form of a legal memo, in which you brief me on the legal standing of our client, Joe Doe. I have provided some links to forms of legal memos that you might use, and there are other examples online.

http://www.law.cuny.edu/legal-writing/students/memorandum/memorandum-3.html

http://www.lawandborder.com/Academic/LW/LW--Samples/SampleMemoSTCL.pdf

You will need to research the position of the individual whom you are representing. What are the positions regarding each party in this case – that is, The Corporation, John Smith and Joe Doe? To what extent do these individuals’ values reflect their positions toward the issue, toward the plaintiff, toward the tribe and toward the state? Would it make any difference whether this took place in a PL 280 or non-280 state? When you have determined the answers to these questions, begin your legal research and prepare to argue your case in court.

You will need to analyze pertinent law as we have done in class, looking for facts, issues and analyses, just as the online memo templates suggest. When you mention a particular case, you must cite it using the following hint:

Montana v. United States, 450 U.S. 544 (1981), 546.

Remember, your boss is very lazy and hates research and has forgotten everything he ever learned in law school, so you’re going to have to explain the whole line of cases leading up to this one, starting with the founding cases of federal Indian law. I don’t see how you’ll be able to do it in any fewer than 4 or 5 pages.

FACTS:

The Corporation operates a retail store on the Xtribe Reservation. The store sits on land held by the United States in trust for the Xtribe, and operates pursuant to a lease agreement with the tribe and a business license issued by the tribe. John Smith was the store’s manager. The tribe operates a job training program known as the Youth Opportunity Program (“YOP”), which attempts to place young tribe members in short-term, unpaid positions with local businesses for educational purposes. Smith, in his capacity as manager of the store, agreed to participate in the YOP. Pursuant to this program, Joe Doe, a thirteen-year-old tribe member, was assigned to The Corporation store. Doe alleges that Smith sexually molested him while he was working at The Corporation store. Doe sued The Corporation and Smith in tribal court.

We think The Corporation is vicariously liable for Smith’s actions, and that The Corporation negligently hired, trained, or supervised Smith. We further allege that the assault has caused him severe mental trauma, and seeks “actual and punitive damages in a sum not less than 2.5 million dollars.” The Corporation and Smith filed motions in the tribal court seeking to dismiss Doe’s claims based on lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.

Stipulation: It is undisputed that John Smith, purportedly on behalf of The Corporation, agreed with the tribe to participate in the tribal YOP, and that based on such agreement, John Doe was placed in The Corporation store under Smith’s direct supervision. Doe did not thereby become an employee of The Corporation, but he functioned as an unpaid intern or apprentice, receiving job training from The Corporation and in turn providing free labor to the store for the period of his assignment.