The seal of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

The Seminole Tribe can't sue the state of Florida over fuel taxes, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday.

The tribe sought a refund for taxes paid on fuel that was purchased off the reservation. But the court said the state was protected by sovereign immunity.

"An Indian tribe can sue a state and its departments in federal court only if Congress has validly abrogated the immunity of the state or if the state has waived its immunity, but neither of those conditions has occurred here," the court said in a unanimous decision to dismiss the suit.

Judge Adalberto Jordan, however, wrote separately and said the tribe should be able to pursue a lawsuit that challenges the future collection of the tax. The tribe filed two lawsuits in state court seeking an exemption from the taxes but lost both times.

Turtle Talk has posted documents from the case, Seminole Tribe v. Florida.

11th Circuit Decision:
Seminole Tribe v. Florida (May 5, 2014)