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South Carolina v. Catawba Indian Tribe, 476 U.S. 498 (1986)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
South Carolina v. Catawba Indian Tribe, 476 U.S. 498 (1986)
South Carolina v. Catawba Indian Tribe, Inc. No. 84-782 Argued December 12, 1985 Decided June 2, 1986 476 U.S. 498
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR
THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
Syllabus
In 1760 and 1763, respondent Indian Tribe surrendered to Great Britain its aboriginal territory in return for the right to settle permanently on a 225-square-mile tract of land now located in South Carolina. In 1840, the Tribe conveyed the tract to South Carolina in return for the State’s establishing a new reservation for the Tribe. In 1959, Congress, pursuant to its changed policies concerning Indian affairs, enacted the Catawba Indian Tribe Division of Assets Act (Catawba Act) authorizing a division of Catawba tribal assets. Section 5 of that Act provided for revocation of the Tribe’s constitution, rendered inapplicable to the Tribe and its members special federal statutory protections for Indians, and made state laws applicable to the Tribe and its members in the same way that they apply to all "other persons or citizens." In 1980, the Tribe brought an action in Federal District Court against petitioners (South Carolina and other claimants to the 225-square-mile tract), seeking possession of the tract and trespass damages for the period of its dispossession on the ground that the 1840 conveyance to South Carolina was null and void because the United States never consented to it, as required by the Nonintercourse Act to make it effective. The District Court granted summary judgment for petitioners, in part on the ground that the Tribe’s claim was barred by the South Carolina statute of limitations. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that, under its interpretation of the Catawba Act, the state statute of limitations did not apply.
Held: The explicit redefinition of the relationship between the Federal Government and respondent Tribe reflected in the Catawba Act’s clear language requires the application of the state statute of limitations to the Tribe’s claim. But whether that statute bars the claim should be determined by the Court of Appeals on remand. Pp. 506-511.
740 F.2d 305, reversed and remanded.
STEVENS, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C.J., and BRENNAN, WHITE, POWELL, and REHNQUIST, JJ., joined. BLACKMUN, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which MARSHALL and O’CONNOR, JJ., joined, post, p. 511.
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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," South Carolina v. Catawba Indian Tribe, 476 U.S. 498 (1986) in 476 U.S. 498 476 U.S. 499. Original Sources, accessed November 24, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=FSVQQE8RJZC5NZ2.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." South Carolina v. Catawba Indian Tribe, 476 U.S. 498 (1986), in 476 U.S. 498, page 476 U.S. 499. Original Sources. 24 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=FSVQQE8RJZC5NZ2.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in South Carolina v. Catawba Indian Tribe, 476 U.S. 498 (1986). cited in 1986, 476 U.S. 498, pp.476 U.S. 499. Original Sources, retrieved 24 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=FSVQQE8RJZC5NZ2.
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