The Poarch Band of Creek Indians cannot be sued by an Alabama water district, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday.

The tribe wants to create its own water facilities and distribution system but the Freemanville Water System asserted exclusive authority to serve the reservation. The district said it was protected by an act of Congress.

A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit disagreed. In a unanimous decision, the court said Congress did not abrogate the tribe's immunity through the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act of 1961.

"Ambiguity is the enemy of abrogation, and the critical part of the Rural Development Act is ambiguous," the court said.

The court also noted that tribal immunity can be asserted for activities that may affect off-reservation communities. The tribe's water system will pass through non-tribal lands.

"The Supreme Court, however, has 'sustained tribal immunity from suit without drawing a distinction based on where the tribal activities occurred,'" the 11th Circuit said, quoting the U.S. Supreme Court in Kiowa Tribe v. Manufacturing Technologies.

Get the Story:
Court upholds Ala. tribe's water system (AP 3/30)

11th Circuit Decision:
Freemanville Water System, Inc. v. Poarch Band of Creek Indians (March 30, 2009)