8th Circuit decides N.D. case Monday, September 13, 2021

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has issued an opinion in a North Dakota Indian law case. In an action against a pipeline operator seeking damages for trespass to lands held in trust by the U.S. and seeking an injunction to require the operator to dismantle the pipeline, the district court dismissed the matter, concluding that the plaintiff allottees had failed to exhaust administrative remedies with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The court held that the case turns on issues sufficiently within the primary jurisdiction of the BIA to warrant a stay of proceedings, rather than dismissal, to give the BIA opportunity to take further action.

Read the court's opinion at: https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/21/09/201747P.pdf