Case of Mary and Carrie Dann v. United States
Cas. No. 11.140 (Judgment on the Merits)
Inter-Am. C.H.R. No. 75/02 (2002)
- Written by Nathan Benedict, JD
Facts
The Bureau of Land Management cited Mary and Carrie Dann (Danns) (plaintiffs) for grazing their cattle on federal lands without a permit. The Danns argued that as members of the Western Shoshone Indian tribe, they possessed aboriginal title to the land. The United States (defendant) argued that the Western Shoshone’s aboriginal title was extinguished when the Indian Claims Commission (ICC) paid compensation to the tribe. However, the payment was placed in a trust account, which had not yet been distributed. The United States Supreme Court held that the payment to the trust account terminated the tribe’s aboriginal title but made no ruling as to whether the Danns possessed individual aboriginal title. On remand, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Danns’ individual rights were terminated by the 1934 Taylor Grazing Act. The Danns petitioned the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States, contending that the United States’ denial of their aboriginal title rights violated the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (American Declaration).
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
What to do next…
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.