Lawsuit Update
Status conference scheduled
INAAJIMOWIN STAFF REPORT
On August 11, 2022, there was a hearing in Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe et al (Band) v. County of Mille Lacs et al (County), case number 17-cv-05155-SRN-LIB, in U.S. District Court in St. Paul. The focus of the hearing was on the Band’s motion for declaratory and injunctive relief, in which the Band is seeking an order declaring the scope of the Band’s law enforcement authority and prohibiting the County from interfering with that authority. After arguments were heard from all parties, Judge Susan Richard Nelson ordered the parties to “meet and confer” (basically sit down, discuss, and reach a resolution). If the parties could not agree, the Judge said she would make a ruling on the motions before her.
The parties met on September 14, 2022, to see whether they could reach any agreements that would narrow the remaining issues in the case. However, the parties reached an impasse without reaching any agreements and notified the Court of the impasse on September 15, 2022. This left matters back where they were on August 11, with the parties expecting a ruling from Judge Nelson.
However, before the Judge could make a ruling, the County requested permission to file a new response to the Band’s motion for declaratory and injunctive relief, even though the Band’s motion had already been briefed and argued to the Court. Specifically, the County is requesting the Court grant them “leave to submit a supplement response to plaintiff’s (Band) pending motion for summary judgement awarding declaratory and injunctive relief.” In its request, the County asks for an additional 42 days to prepare new documents that will essentially relitigate the same argument that was before the Court on August 11, effectively delaying resolution of the motions currently before the court.
The Band opposes the defendants’ request because: (1) the Band’s motion for summary judgment awarding declaratory and injunctive relief has already been fully briefed, argued, and submitted to the Court for decision; (2) defendants have not identified any new information they could not have presented to the Court when they first responded to the Band’s motion; and (3) defendants’ argument that the Court lacks an adequate factual record to decide the Band’s motion lacks merit.
The Court has scheduled a status conference for November 2, 2022, at 11 a.m. Central time to discuss the County’s request and any additional motions that the parties may want to file.
The status conference will be held via zoom with an audio link for members of the public who would like to listen. If you would like to listen to the conference, please visit the District Court website at https://www.mnd.uscourts.gov/court-schedules for audio connection information for this hearing. Note that hearings might not appear on the court schedule or courthouse kiosk until one week before the hearing date.