Indianz.Com SoundCloud: White House Conference Call on Supreme Court Nominee Merrick Garland
Seven years later, Garland was scheduled to hear an appeal that challenged the fairness of the $3.4 billion settlement to the case. But he didn't end up deciding that matter either after it was consolidated with other challenges. A different panel of the court affirmed the settlement and the first payments went out to Indian Country later that year. Back in 2008, Garland was part of yet another panel in a big Indian law case: a lawsuit over the citizenship status of the Freedmen, who are the descendants of former African slaves, within the Cherokee Nation. The outcome was significant -- the court held that individual tribal leaders were not entitled to sovereign immunity -- but Garland didn't write the ruling either. The dispute itself is still pending in the courts. In an earlier case, Garland heard an appeal involving the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts, whose federal recognition petition was subject to numerous delays. In August 2003, the court ruled that the Bureau of Indian Affairs could not be forced to make a decision by a certain deadline due to limited resources. The tribe eventually won recognition and its status was finalized in May 2007. Garland was due to hear another closely-watched Indian law case this Friday. He was originally assigned to the panel that will determine whether the Bureau of Indian Affairs lawfully approved a land-into-trust application for the Cowlitz Tribe of Washington. But due to his nomination, Garland will not be hearing any cases. The case will instead be heard by Judge Cornelia T.L. Pillard, Judge Robert L. Wilkins and Judge Harry T. Edwards, according to an order filed on Wednesday.
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Judge Garland’s Indian Law Record (March 16, 2016)
2010 Edition: Possible Supreme Court Nominees and Their Indian Law Records (Part I) (April 12, 2010)
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