Miccosukee Tribe v. Florida State Athl. Comm'n

Decision Date13 September 2000
Docket NumberNo. 99-13669,99-13669
Citation226 F.3d 1226
Parties(11th Cir. 2000) MICCOSUKEE TRIBE OF INDIANS OF FLORIDA, a federally recognized Indian Tribe, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. FLORIDA STATE ATHLETIC COMMISSION, Alvin Goodman, Florida State Athletic Commission, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. (No. 99-00347-CV-DLG), Donald L. Graham, Judge.

Before ANDERSON, Chief Judge, and DUBINA and SMITH*, Circuit Judges.

DUBINA, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff, the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida ("Tribe"), filed suit against the Florida State Athletic Commission ("Florida Commission") and several of its officials and representatives, alleging violations of the Professional Boxing Safety Act, 15 U.S.C. 6301-6313, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and federal common law. The district court dismissed the Tribe's complaint, finding that the Tribe failed to allege an injury in fact. The district court also found that the Florida Commission was entitled to Eleventh Amendment Immunity. We hold that the Tribe fails to allege any injury as to its Equal Protection claim, but that the Tribe does allege a sufficient injury as to its tax claim. We also affirm the district court's Eleventh Amendment Immunity decision.

I. Background

The Tribe is a federally-recognized Indian tribe exercising powers of self-governance. In December 1998, the Tribe established the Miccosukee Athletic Commission ("Miccosukee Commission"). The Miccosukee Commission regulates professional boxing matches held within the Miccosukee reservation. Florida has a similar entity-the Florida State Athletic Commission-to regulate professional boxing matches within Florida. Both the Miccosukee Commission and the Florida Commission license and appoint boxing officials and regulatory staff to officiate boxing matches. The Commissions employ many of the same officials.

Soon after the Tribe created the Miccosukee Commission, the Florida Commission threatened boxing officials with adverse employment action if they declined a state assignment in order to accept an assignment with the Miccosukee Commission. According to the Tribe, the Florida Commission has not similarly threatened boxing officials who accept assignments with non-Indian entities. In addition, the Florida Commission has attempted to tax boxing promoters who conduct professional boxing matches on the Miccosukee Reservation as if the matches occurred in Florida. Those taxes require, inter alia, that the promoter pay a tax on the sale of broadcasting rights and on the proceeds from a pay-per-view operator.

II. Discussion
A.Standing

The Tribe argues that the district court incorrectly held that the Tribe failed to allege an injury in fact and thereby lacked Article III standing to bring this lawsuit. This court reviews de novo a district court's order dismissing a complaint for lack of Article III standing. See Florida Ass'n of Med. Equip. Dealers, Med-Health Care v. Apfel, 194 F.3d 1227, 1229 (11th Cir.1999).

In order to establish Article III standing, a plaintiff must demonstrate: (1) an injury in fact; (2) a causal connection between the injury and the conduct complained of; and (3) that the injury is likely to be redressed by a favorable decision. See Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560-61, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992). An "injury in fact [consists of] an invasion of a legally protected interest which is (a) concrete and particularized and (b) actual or imminent not conjectural or hypothetical." Id. at 560, 112 S.Ct. 2130 (citations and internal quotations omitted). Thus, to satisfy the injury prong of Article III standing, a plaintiff must "present 'specific, concrete facts' showing that the challenged conduct will result in a 'demonstrable, particularized injury' to the plaintiff." Cone Corp. v. Florida Dep't of Transp., 921 F.2d 1190, 1204 (11th Cir.1991) (quoting Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 508, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975)). An allegation of an abstract injury will not suffice. See Whitmore v. Arkansas, 495 U.S. 149, 155, 110 S.Ct. 1717, 109 L.Ed.2d 135 (1990) ("The complaint must allege an injury to himself that is 'distinct and palpable,' as opposed to merely 'abstract' ....") (citations omitted); see also E.F. Hutton & Co., Inc. v. Hadley, 901 F.2d 979, 984 (11th Cir.1990) ("Plaintiffs in the federal courts must have a personal stake in the outcome of the case, and must allege some threatened or actual injury resulting from the putatively illegal action. Abstract injury is not enough ....") (citations and internal quotations omitted).

1.Equal Protection Claim

With regard to the Tribe's Equal Protection claim, the district court correctly held that the Tribe's complaint fails to set forth a "particularized injury." In its complaint, the Tribe asserts that the Florida Commission acted unconstitutionally by making oral and written threats of adverse employment action against boxing officials if they declined a state boxing assignment in order to accept a Miccosukee boxing assignment. The Florida Commission, however, did not similarly threaten boxing officials who declined a state boxing assignment in order to accept an assignment from another state. The Tribe alleges that these actions "unequally and unfairly burdened the Tribe and its Commission," (Compl. at ¶ 58), and "[t]he actions of the Defendants operate to the detriment of the ... Tribe," (Compl. at ¶ 64).

The Tribe, however, does not allege how the Florida Commission's actions have burdened it or operated to its detriment. For instance, the Tribe does not allege that the Florida Commission's actions prevented the Tribe from conducting any particular boxing match. The Tribe also does not allege that the Florida Commission prevented or even hindered its ability to hire, train, or procure boxing officials from within or outside of Florida for its matches. Nor does it allege that the Florida Commission's activities will have such an effect in the future.1 Nowhere in the complaint does the Tribe identify any particularized injury resulting from the Florida Commission's alleged misconduct.2 Instead, the Tribe's complaint only sets forth abstract injuries. Cf. Bennett v. Spear, 520 U.S. 154, 167-68, 117 S.Ct. 1154, 137 L.Ed.2d 281 (1997) (holding that the plaintiff adequately alleged an injury in fact where it alleged that it would receive less irrigation water from a Bureau as a result of restrictions imposed on the Bureau from the challenged agency opinion).

Even though the Tribe's complaint sets forth facts from which we could imagine an injury sufficient to satisfy Article III's standing requirements, we should not speculate concerning the existence of standing, nor should we imagine or piece together an injury sufficient to give plaintiff standing when it has demonstrated none. See Cone Corp., 921 F.2d at 1210. The plaintiff has the burden to "clearly and specifically set forth facts sufficient to satisfy [ ] Art. III standing requirements." Whitmore, 495 U.S. at 155, 110 S.Ct. 1717; see also Warth, 422 U.S. at 518, 95 S.Ct. 2197 ("It is the responsibility of the complainant clearly to allege facts demonstrating that he is a proper party to invoke judicial resolution of the dispute and the exercise of the court's remedial powers."). If the plaintiff fails to meet its burden, this court lacks the power to create jurisdiction by embellishing a deficient allegation of injury. See Whitmore, 495 U.S. at 155, 110 S.Ct. 1717 ("A federal court is powerless to create its own jurisdiction by embellishing otherwise deficient complaints of standing."). In this case, the Tribe fails to allege a "particularized injury," and thus, lacks Article III standing to bring a claim under the Equal Protection Clause. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's order dismissing the Tribe's Equal Protection claim.

2.Tax Claim

We now turn to the question of whether the Tribe has standing to challenge Florida's authority to tax a non-Indian boxing promoter on revenues gained from a boxing match conducted on the Tribe's reservation.3 The district court held that the Tribe lacked standing because it failed to allege an injury. In particular, the district court noted that the Tribe did not allege that the tax on promoters hindered the Tribe's efforts to conduct boxing matches or to collect its taxes. In turn, the district court held that absent these allegations, the Tribe acted as a third party challenging the imposition of a tax on promoters. Absent exceptional circumstances, a third party does not have standing to challenge injury to another party. See Warth, 422 U.S. at 499, 95 S.Ct. 2197.

Even though the Tribe does not allege that the tax hindered its ability to conduct boxing matches or to collect its boxing taxes, the Tribe has a legitimate basis for standing-that the state's tax on boxing promoters infringes upon the Tribe's sovereignty. The Supreme Court has consistently recognized that a tribe has an interest in protecting tribal self-government from the assertion by a state that it has regulatory or taxing authority over Indians and non-Indians conducting business on tribal reservations. See White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker, 448 U.S. 136, 142, 100 S.Ct. 2578, 65 L.Ed.2d 665 (1980); see also Ramah Navajo Sch. Bd. v. Bureau of Revenue of New Mexico, 458 U.S. 832, 845, 102 S.Ct. 3394, 73 L.Ed.2d 1174 (1982) (upholding an Indian Tribe's challenge to a state's attempt to tax the gross receipts a non-Indian construction company received from constructing a school on reservation property to educate tribal children); Washington v. Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation, 447 U.S. 134, 156-57, 100 S.Ct. 2069, 65 L.Ed.2d 10 (1980) (rejecting on the merits an Indian Tribe's claim that a state's...

To continue reading

Request your trial
93 cases
  • Muransky v. Godiva Chocolatier, Inc., No. 16-16486 & 16-16783
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)
    • October 28, 2020
    ...are powerless to "create jurisdiction by embellishing a deficient allegation of injury." Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Fla. v. Fla. State Athletic Comm'n , 226 F.3d 1226, 1229–30 (11th Cir. 2000) (citing Whitmore , 495 U.S. at 155, 110 S.Ct. 1717 ). What is required, then? A plaintiff need......
  • Tokyo Gwinnett, LLC v. Gwinnett County, Georgia, 17-11871
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)
    • October 11, 2019
    ...none.’ " Bochese v. Town of Ponce Inlet, 405 F.3d 964, 976 (11th Cir. 2005) (quoting Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Fla. v. Fla. State Athletic Comm’n, 226 F.3d 1226, 1229–30 (11th Cir. 2000) ); see also, e.g., Kawa Orthodontics, LLP v. U.S. Dep’t of the Treas., 773 F.3d 243, 246 (11th Cir.......
  • Souto v. Fla. Int'l Univ. Found., Inc.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 11th Circuit. United States District Courts. 11th Circuit. Southern District of Florida
    • March 3, 2020
    ...the entity derives its funds; and (4) who is responsible for judgments against the entity." Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Fla. v. Fla. State Athletic Comm'n, 226 F.3d 1226, 1231 (11th Cir. 2000) (citing Tuveson, 734 F.2d at 732 ). 1. How state law defines the FoundationThe Court initially ......
  • Elend v. Basham
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)
    • December 6, 2006
    ...which we could imagine an injury sufficient to satisfy Article III's standing requirements." Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Fla. v. Fla. State Athletic Comm'n, 226 F.3d 1226, 1229 (11th Cir.2000) (citations omitted). Indeed, "we should not speculate concerning the existence of standing, nor......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
3 books & journal articles
  • Appellate Practice and Procedure - William M. Droze and Suzanne F. Sturdivant
    • United States
    • Mercer University School of Law Mercer Law Reviews No. 52-4, June 2001
    • Invalid date
    ...U.S. 737, 742 (1995)) (internal quotation marks omitted). 74. Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida v. Florida State Athletic Comm'n, 226 F.3d 1226, 1228 (11th Cir. 2000). 75. Id. 76. Stevens v. Premier Cruises, Inc., 215 F.3d 1237, 1239 (11th Cir. 2000). 77. Wilson, 220 F.3d at 1303 n.11.......
  • Labor and Employment
    • United States
    • Mercer University School of Law Mercer Law Reviews No. 64-4, June 2013
    • Invalid date
    ...II, 686 F.3d at 1292-93.145. Id. at 1291.146. Id. at 1292 (quoting Wilkinson, 102 So. 3d at 386).147. Id.148. Id. at 1292-93.149. 226 F.3d 1226 (11th Cir. 2000).150. Id. at 1231.151. Versiglio II, 686 F.3d at 1292-93. 152. 482 F. App'x 387 (11th Cir. 2012).153. Ga. H.R. Bill 173, Reg. Sess.......
  • Labor and Employment - Patrick L. Coyle and Alexandra v. Garrison
    • United States
    • Mercer University School of Law Mercer Law Reviews No. 63-4, June 2012
    • Invalid date
    ...v. Lee, 338 F.3d 1304, 1308 (11th Cir. 2003)). 53. Id. (quoting Regents of the Univ. of Cal. v. Doe, 519 U.S. 425, 429 n.5 (1997)). 54. 226 F.3d 1226 (11th Cir. 2000). 55. Versiglio, 651 F.3d at 1273-74 (quoting Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, 226 F.3d at 1231). 56. Id. at 1274-76. 57. Id. at ......

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT