Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina v. State of S.C., 82-1671
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit) |
| Writing for the Court | Before WINTER, Chief Judge, WIDENER, HALL, PHILLIPS, MURNAGHAN, and SPROUSE, Circuit Judges, and BUTZNER; PER CURIAM; MURNAGHAN |
| Citation | 740 F.2d 305 |
| Parties | CATAWBA INDIAN TRIBE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, also known as the Catawba Nation of South Carolina, v. STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, Richard W. Riley, as Governor of the State of South Carolina; County of Lancaster, and its County Council consisting of Francis L. Bell as Chairman, Fred E. Plyler, Eldridge Emory, Robert L. Mobley, Barry L. Mobley, L. Eugene Hudson, Lindsay Pettus; City of Rock Hill, J. Emmett Jerome, as Mayor, and its City Council consisting of Melford A. Wilson, Elizabeth D. Rhea, Maxine Gill, Winston Searles, A. Douglas Echols, Frank W. Berry, Sr.; Bowater North American Corporation; Catawba Timber Co.; Celanese Corporation of America; Citizens and Southern National Bank of South Carolina; Cresent Land & Timber Corp.; Duke Power Company; Flint Realty and Construction Company; Herald Publishing Company; Home Federal Savings and Loan Association; Rock Hill Printing & Finishing Company; Roddey Estates, Inc.; Southern Railway Company; Springs Mills Inc.; J.P. Stevens & Company; Tega Cay Associates; Wachovia Bank and Trust Company; Ashe Brick Company; Church Heritage Village & Missionary Fellowship; Nisbet Farms, Inc.; C.H. Albright; Ned Albright; J.W. Anderson, Jr.; John Marshall Wilkins, II; Jesse G. Anderson; John Wesley Anderson; David Goode Anderson; W.B. Ardrey, Jr.; Eliza Beth Ardrey Grimball; John W. Ardrey, Ardrey Farms; F.S. Barnes, Jr.; W. Watson Barron; Wilson Barron; Archie B. Carroll, Jr.; Hugh William Close; James Bradley; Francis Lay Springs; Lillian Crandel Close; Francis Allison Close; Leroy Springs Close; Patricia Close; William Elliot Close; Hugh William Close, Jr.; Robert A. Fewell; W.J. Harris; Annie F. Harris; T.W. Hutchinson; Hiram Hutchinson, Jr.; J.R. McAlhaney; F.M. Mack, Jr.; Arnold F. Marshall; J.E. Marshall, Jr.; C.E. Reid, Jr.; Will R. Simpson; John S. Simpson; Robert F. Simpson; Thomas Brown Snodgrass, Jr.; John M. Spratt; Marshal E. Walker; Hugh M. White, Jr.; John M. Belk; Jane Nisbet Goode; R.N. Bencher; W.O. Nisbet, III; Pauline B |
| Docket Number | No. 82-1671,82-1671 |
| Decision Date | 17 August 1984 |
Page 305
Catawba Nation of South Carolina,
v.
STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, Richard W. Riley, as Governor of
the State of South Carolina; County of Lancaster, and its
County Council consisting of Francis L. Bell as Chairman,
Fred E. Plyler, Eldridge Emory, Robert L. Mobley, Barry L.
Mobley, L. Eugene Hudson, Lindsay Pettus; City of Rock
Hill, J. Emmett Jerome, as Mayor, and its City Council
consisting of Melford A. Wilson, Elizabeth D. Rhea, Maxine
Gill, Winston Searles, A. Douglas Echols, Frank W. Berry,
Sr.; Bowater North American Corporation; Catawba Timber
Co.; Celanese Corporation of America; Citizens and
Southern National Bank of South Carolina; Cresent Land &
Timber Corp.; Duke Power Company; Flint Realty and
Construction Company; Herald Publishing Company; Home
Federal Savings and Loan Association; Rock Hill Printing &
Finishing Company; Roddey Estates, Inc.; Southern Railway
Company; Springs Mills Inc.; J.P. Stevens & Company; Tega
Cay Associates; Wachovia Bank and Trust Company; Ashe
Brick Company; Church Heritage Village & Missionary
Fellowship; Nisbet Farms, Inc.; C.H. Albright; Ned
Albright; J.W. Anderson, Jr.; John Marshall Wilkins, II;
Jesse G. Anderson; John Wesley Anderson; David Goode
Anderson; W.B. Ardrey, Jr.; Eliza Beth Ardrey Grimball;
John W. Ardrey, Ardrey Farms; F.S. Barnes, Jr.; W. Watson
Barron; Wilson Barron; Archie B. Carroll, Jr.; Hugh
William Close; James Bradley; Francis Lay Springs;
Lillian Crandel Close; Francis Allison Close; Leroy
Springs Close; Patricia Close; William Elliot Close; Hugh
William Close, Jr.; Robert A. Fewell; W.J. Harris; Annie
F. Harris; T.W. Hutchinson; Hiram Hutchinson, Jr.; J.R.
McAlhaney; F.M. Mack, Jr.; Arnold F. Marshall; J.E.
Marshall, Jr.; C.E. Reid, Jr.; Will R. Simpson; John S.
Simpson; Robert F. Simpson; Thomas Brown Snodgrass, Jr.;
John M. Spratt; Marshal E. Walker; Hugh M. White, Jr.;
John M. Belk; Jane Nisbet Goode; R.N. Bencher; W.O.
Nisbet, III; Pauline B. Gunter; J. Max Minson; W.A.
McCorkle; Mary McCorkle; William O. Nisbet; Eugenia
Nisbet White; Mary Nisbet Purvis; E.N. Martin; Robert M.
Yoder, Appellees.
Fourth Circuit.
Decided Aug. 17, 1984.
Don B. Miller, Boulder, Colo., and Jean H. Toal, Columbia, S.C. (Native American Rights Fund; Belser, Baker, Barwick, Ravenel, Toal & Bender, Columbia, S.C., Robert M. Jones, Rock Hill, S.C., Mike Jolly and Richard Steele, Union, S.C., on brief), for appellant.
John C. Christie, Jr., Chicago, Ill., J.D. Todd, Jr., Greenville, S.C., James D. St. Clair, Boston, Mass. (J. William Hayton, Stephen J. Landes, Lucinda O. McConathy, Bell, Boyd & Lloyd, Chicago, Ill., Michael J. Giese, Gwendolyn Embler, Leatherwood, Walker, Todd & Mann, Greenville, S.C., Dan M. Byrd, Jr., Mitchell K. Byrd, Byrd & Byrd, Rock Hill, S.C., James L. Quarles, III, William F. Lee, David H. Erichsen; Hale & Dorr, Boston, Mass., T. Travis Medlock, Atty. Gen., Kenneth P. Woodington, Asst. Atty. Gen. for the State of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C., on brief), for appellees.
Before WINTER, Chief Judge, WIDENER, HALL, PHILLIPS, MURNAGHAN, and SPROUSE, Circuit Judges, and BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge. (en banc) *
Page 306
PER CURIAM:
The judgment of the district court is reversed, and this case is remanded for further proceedings for reasons stated in the opinion of the panel. Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina v. South Carolina, 718 F.2d 1291 (4th Cir.1983). Judge Widener, Judge Hall, and Judge Phillips, dissenting, would affirm the judgment of dismissal for the reasons stated in Judge Hall's dissent to the panel opinion. 718 F.2d at 1301-03.
MURNAGHAN, Circuit Judge, concurring:
For the reasons so cogently expressed by Judge Butzner in his opinion for the panel majority, I agree that "the Catawba Indian Tribe Division of Assets Act of 1959 did not ratify the 1840 Treaty, extinguish the Tribe's existence, terminate the trust relationship of the Tribe with the federal government arising out of the Nonintercourse Act, or make the state statute of limitations applicable to the Tribe's claim." Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina v. State of South Carolina, 718 F.2d 1291, 1300 (4th Cir.1983). 1 While the dissent has delivered a respectable argument to the contrary, we face at most a case in which the congressional statement is open to dual interpretations. We may, however, permit only a plain and unambiguous expression of congressional intent to abrogate a federally recognized right and terminate a trust relationship. Furthermore, construction of statutes affecting Indian tribes should proceed on the basis of tender concern for the rights of Indians. The uncertainty in statutory interpretation in the instant case is properly resolved in favor of the Catawba Tribe.
I therefore unreservedly join in the opinion of Judge Butzner, reversing the award of summary judgment in favor of South Carolina. As for the other defendants, landowners of parcels compositely comprising the 144,000 acres, no arguments separate and distinct from those advanced on behalf of the State of South Carolina have been made, and, consequently, on the present state of the record I also agree that summary judgments in their favor should be reversed.
My concurrence with respect to the private defendants, however, is a troubled one. Since the...
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