Action by Yankton Sioux Challenging Land Transfers by Army Corps of Engineers

By FindLaw Staff on June 02, 2010 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Also, Rulings in Attorney Discipline, Contract and Property Actions

Yankton Sioux Tribe v. US Army Corps of Eng'rs., No. 08-2255, involved an action by the Yankton Sioux Tribe challenging the validity of land transfers by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to the State of South Dakota.  The court of appeals affirmed summary judgment for defendant, holding that 1) the fee-patented lands at issue were outside the "external boundaries" of the reservation before they were acquired by the Corps; and 2) allotted lands still held in trust became lands "located outside the external boundaries" of the Reservation when fee simple title was acquired by the Corps for the Fort Randall Dam project.

Plouffe v. Ligon, No. 08-3996, concerned an action seeking to enjoin attorney disciplinary proceedings that defendant initiated against plaintiff.  The court of appeals affirmed the dismissal of the action, on the grounds that the district court properly abstained under Younger because 1) the disciplinary proceedings against plaintiff implicated important state interests; 2) the attorney disciplinary proceedings provided plaintiff an adequate opportunity to raise his constitutional claims; and 3) Arkansas Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4(e) was not "flagrantly and patently" unconstitutional "in whatever manner and against whomever an effort might be made to apply it."

Wells Dairy, Inc. v. Food Movers Int'l., Inc., No. 09-1628, involved a breach of contract action alleging that defendant failed to pay for product it had ordered and received from plaintiff.  The court of appeals affirmed judgment for plaintiff, on the ground that the district court had personal jurisdiction over defendant because defendant purposefully availed itself of the privilege of conducting activities within Iowa when it solicited an Iowa company for business, sought to purchase the Iowa company's products on credit provided by the Iowa company, negotiated and fulfilled the "customer pick up" delivery term, and entered into more than 100 transactions over the course of two years, during which it relied on the Iowa company for customer support.

Lackawanna Chapter of the Rwy. & Locomotive Historical Soc., Inc. v. St. Louis Cty., No. 09-2487, involved an action for replevin of the historic locomotive "No. 952," currently on display at the Museum of Transportation (the Museum) in St. Louis, Missouri.  The court of appeals affirmed summary judgment for defendant, on the ground that the statute of limitations barred the replevin action because undisputed evidence demonstrated that in 1995 and 1996 defendant took actions inconsistent with the bailment.

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