Montana v. Blackfeet Tribe of Indians
United States Supreme Court
471 U.S. 759, 105 S.Ct. 2399, 85 L.Ed.2d 753 (1985)
- Written by Nathan Benedict, JD
Facts
A 1924 act permitted Indian tribes to lease mineral rights on their reservation land. The 1924 act explicitly permitted states to tax royalty payments the tribes received under those leases. In 1938, Congress passed the Indian Mineral Leasing Act of 1938. The 1938 act did not explicitly permit state taxation of royalty payments, nor did it explicitly repeal the provision of the 1924 act permitting such taxation. However, the 1938 act contained a general clause repealing all prior laws inconsistent with the 1938 act. The Blackfeet Tribe of Indians (the tribe) (defendants) leased oil and gas rights on reservation land to non-Indians. The state of Montana (plaintiff) sought to tax the tribe’s royalty payments under those leases.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Powell, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 814,000 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.