Dollar General Corporation v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
| Docket No. | Op. Below | Argument | Opinion | Vote | Author | Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13-1496 | 5th Cir. | Dec 7, 2015 | May 9, 2025 | 4-4 | Per Curiam | OT 2015 |
Issue: Whether Indian tribal courts have jurisdiction to adjudicate civil tort claims against nonmembers, including as a means of regulating the conduct of nonmembers who enter into consensual relationships with a tribe or its members. CVSG: 5/12/2015.
Judgment: Affirmed by an equally divided Court in a per curiam opinion on May 9, 2025.
SCOTUSblog Coverage
- Opinion analysis: Dollar General, the Courts longest pending case of the 2015 Term is a four-four per curiam opinion (Ed Gehres, June 25, 2016)
- SCOTUS for law students: Indian cases at the Court (Stephen Wermiel, January 4, 2016)
- Argument analysis: Is tribal court civil jurisdiction over non-Indians truly a constitutional issue, or one of settled precedent? (Ed Gehres, December 9, 2015)
- A view from the Courtroom: Committee of the Whole (Mark Walsh, December 8, 2015)
- Argument preview: The future of tribal courts -- the power to adjudicate civil torts involving non-Indians (Ed Gehres, December 1, 2015)
- A gesture in favor of a woman's abortion choice (Lyle Denniston, June 15, 2015)
- Solicitor General recommends double denials in invitation briefs (Amy Howe, May 20, 2015)
- Petition of the day (Maureen Johnston, September 4, 2014)
| Date | Proceedings and Orders |
|---|---|
| 06/12/2014 | Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due July 18, 2014) |
| 07/08/2014 | Order extending time to file response to petition to and including August 22, 2014, for all respondents. |
| 07/18/2014 | Brief amicus curiae of South Dakota Bankers Association filed. |
| 08/21/2014 | Brief of respondents Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, et al. in opposition filed. |
| 09/02/2014 | Reply of petitioners Dollar General Corporation, et al. filed. |
| 09/04/2014 | Supplemental brief of respondents Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, et al. filed. |
| 09/10/2014 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of September 29, 2014. |
| 10/06/2014 | The Solicitor General is invited to file a brief in this case expressing the views of the United States. |
| 05/12/2015 | Brief amicus curiae of United States filed. |
| 05/19/2015 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of June 4, 2015. |
| 05/19/2015 | Supplemental brief of petitioners Dollar General Corporation, et al. filed. (Distributed) |
| 06/08/2015 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of June 11, 2015. |
| 06/15/2015 | Petition GRANTED. |
| 07/10/2015 | The time to file the joint appendix and petitioners' brief on the merits is extended to and including August 14, 2015. |
| 07/10/2015 | The time to file respondents' brief on the merits is extended to and including September 28, 2015. |
| 07/29/2015 | The time to file the joint appendix and petitioner's brief on the merits is further extended to and including August 31, 2015. |
| 07/29/2015 | The time to file respondents' brief on the merits is further extended to and including October 15, 2015. |
| 08/07/2015 | Consent to the filing of amicus curiae briefs, in support of either party or of neither party, received from counsel for the petitioners. |
| 08/10/2015 | Consent to the filing of amicus curiae briefs, in support of either party or of neither party, received from counsel for the respondents. |
| 08/31/2015 | Joint appendix filed. (Statement of costs filed.) |
| 08/31/2015 | Brief of petitioners Dollar General Corporation, et al. filed. |
| 09/04/2015 | Brief amicus curiae of South Dakota Bankers Association filed. |
| 09/04/2015 | Brief amici curiae of Oklahoma, et al. filed. |
| 09/08/2015 | Brief amicus curiae of Retail Litigation Center, Inc. filed. |
| 09/08/2015 | Brief amicus curiae of Association of American Railroads filed. |
| 10/09/2015 | SET FOR ARGUMENT on Monday, December 7, 2015 |
| 10/15/2015 | Brief of respondents Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, et al. filed. |
| 10/19/2015 | Record requested from U.S.C.A. 5th Circuit. |
| 10/21/2015 | Brief amici curiae of American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Mississippi filed. |
| 10/22/2015 | Brief amici curiae of Puyallup Tribe of Indians, et al. filed. |
| 10/22/2015 | Brief amici curiae of National Congress of American Indians, et al. filed. |
| 10/22/2015 | Brief amicus curiae of United States filed. |
| 10/22/2015 | Brief amici curiae of Historians and Legal Scholars Gregory Ablavsky, et al. filed. |
| 10/22/2015 | Brief amici curiae of The Cherokee Nation, et al. filed. |
| 10/22/2015 | Motion of the Solicitor General for leave to participate in oral argument as amicus curiae and for divided argument filed. |
| 10/22/2015 | Brief amici curiae of National Indigenous Women's Resource Center, et al. filed. |
| 10/22/2015 | Brief amici curiae of Mississippi, et al. filed. (Distributed) |
| 10/27/2015 | CIRCULATED |
| 11/09/2015 | Motion of the Solicitor General for leave to participate in oral argument as amicus curiae and for divided argument GRANTED. |
| 11/16/2015 | Reply of petitioners Dollar General Corporation, et al. filed. (Distributed) |
| 12/07/2015 | Argued. For petitioners: Thomas C. Goldstein, Bethesda, Md. For respondents: Neal K. Katyal, Washington, D. C.; and Edwin S. Kneedler, Deputy Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. (for United States, as amicus curiae.) |
| 06/23/2016 | Adjudged to be AFFIRMED by an equally divided Court. Opinion per curiam. |
| 07/25/2016 | JUDGMENT ISSUED |