"Since the 1986 Term, the Supreme Court has granted review in 68 Indian law cases. [Warning, this is a preliminary study, and the numbers below are subject to change, but not significantly.]

* The Court has granted 14 out of 20 petitions filed by the United States (70 percent)
* The Court has granted 33 out of 117 petitions filed by states and state subdivisions (28 percent)
* The Court has granted 13 out of 151 petitions filed by private, non-Indian parties (8 percent)
* The Court has granted 7 out of 347 petitions filed by tribal interests (tribes and individual Indians) (2 percent) [six of these grants was accompanied by an invitation brief, an amicus brief, or other brief by the United States recommending a grant -- in other words, only 1 tribal petition has been granted without the government's consent]

In cert oppositions, the same trends hold:
* When state interests are in opposition to a cert petition, the Court granted 7 out 157 petitions (4 percent)
* When private parties are in opposition to a cert petition, the Court granted 7 out of 78 petitions (9 percent)
* When tribal interests are in opposition to a cert petition, the Court granted 45 out of 217 petitions (21 percent)

Here are the preliminary results of the new study. I divide the timeline of the study into three periods: (1) the early Rehnquist Court (1986-1993 Terms, essentially the F&S period); (2) the later Rehnquist Court (1994-2004 Terms), the period of almost perfect continuity in the membership of the Court; and (3) the Roberts Court (2005-2010 Terms)."

Get the Story:
Preliminary Results of New Study of Certiorari and Indian Law (Turtle Talk 4/12)