John P. Moyant v. Regina Petit et al.

Summary

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed dismissal of John P. Moyant’s complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The court held that the dispute involving a tribal member, the Passamaquoddy Tribe, and tribal land was an internal tribal matter under the Maine Implementing Act, applying the nonexclusive Akins factors. The court therefore did not reach the alternative tribal exhaustion issue.

Holdings

1. The dispute did not fit squarely within the section 6206(1) example concerning the right to reside because Moyant sought contractual, compensatory, equitable, and punitive damages, and resolution of the case did not require determining whether he could reside on tribal land.
2. The dispute was an internal tribal matter within the jurisdiction of the tribal court because, although Moyant's nonmember status weighed slightly against that conclusion, the remaining nonexclusive and nondispositive Akins factors supported it.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the dispute was an internal tribal matter within the tribal court's jurisdiction under 30 M.R.S. § 6206(1).
2. Whether the Akins factors should be applied when a dispute does not fit squarely within one of the examples of an internal tribal matter listed in section 6206(1).
3. Whether the Superior Court properly dismissed the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

Disposition

affirmed