Unkechaug Indian Nation v. Lefton
Petition for certiorari denied on October 6, 2025
Issues: (1) Whether the district court violated petitioners' due process rights by granting summary judgment without first fulfilling its gatekeeping obligation under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., to rule on the parties' pending motions to exclude or limit expert testimony; (2) whether the district court erred by relying on the respondents' expert witness in its summary judgment decision without first addressing the petitioners' motion to exclude or limit respondents’ expert's testimony under Daubert; (3) whether the district court violated petitioners' due process rights by failing to conduct an in camera review of 4,780 documents withheld by respondents under claims of privilege, despite having ordered such a review and having possession of the documents since May 2019; (4) whether the court improperly analyzed the Andros Treaty by not finding the Treaty ambiguous and conducting the Indian canons analysis; and (5) whether the court misapprehended the law in finding the Andros Treaty not valid under Federal law.
| Date | Proceedings and Orders |
|---|---|
| 06/02/2025 | Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due July 7, 2025) |
| 06/13/2025 | Motion to extend the time to file a response from July 7, 2025 to August 6, 2025, submitted to The Clerk. |
| 06/16/2025 | Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including August 6, 2025. |
| 08/06/2025 | Brief of respondents Amanda Lefton, Commissioner, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, et al. in opposition filed. |
| 08/20/2025 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2025. |
| 08/20/2025 | Reply of petitioners Unkechaug Indian Nation, et al. filed. (Distributed) |
| 10/06/2025 | Petition DENIED. |