Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma v. Manufacturing Technologies, Inc.

Kiowa Tribe v. Manufacturing Technologies
U.S. LEXIS 3406
Case history
Prior	Okla. Court of Civil Appeals, First Division (not reported)
Holding
Reversed. Held that an Indian Nation were entitled to sovereign immunity from contract lawsuits, whether made on or off reservation, or involving governmental or commercial activities.
Court membership
Chief Justice William Rehnquist Associate Justices John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy David Souter · Clarence Thomas Ruth Bader Ginsburg · Stephen Breyer
Case opinions
Majority	Kennedy, joined by Rehnquist, O'Connor, Scalia, Souter and Breyer
Dissent	Stevens, joined by Thomas and Ginsburg
Laws applied
Tribal Sovereignty, Tribal Immunity

Kiowa Tribe v. Manufacturing Technologies, 523 U.S. 751 (1998), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that an Indian Nation were entitled to sovereign immunity from contract lawsuits, whether made on or off reservation, or involving governmental or commercial activities.^[1]

Background

The

Reversed. Justice Anthony Kennedy delivered the opinion of the court.^[1]

Justice Kennedy noted that the contract stated that "Nothing in this Note subjects or limits the sovereign rights of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma." He then noted that unless Congress provides for the abrogation of tribal sovereignty or the tribe waives its immunity, a tribe is not subject to answering a suit in state courts. The tribe is immune, regardless of whether the matter involves governmental or commercial activities, and regardless of whether the activity occurs on or off of tribal property.^[1]

Dissent

Justice