Ronald E. Rousseau v. Judge Kimberly Craven, in her official capacity as CRST Attorney General; and Brenda Claymore, in her official capacity as CRST Chief Judge

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of South Dakota dismissed without prejudice Ronald E. Rousseau’s petition under 25 U.S.C. § 1303 and 28 U.S.C. § 2241 challenging his arrest and detention by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. The court held that Rousseau had not exhausted his tribal court remedies and found no basis to excuse exhaustion as futile, while declining to reach the detention issue. The court adopted the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation in part, granted the respondents’ motion to dismiss, and overruled Rousseau’s objections.

Holdings

1. A petitioner seeking habeas relief under 25 U.S.C. § 1303 generally must exhaust tribal court remedies before invoking federal jurisdiction, including allowing the tribal appellate courts an opportunity to review the lower tribal court's determinations.
2. Exhaustion may be excused in rare circumstances, such as when the tribal court system is not functioning or appellate review is extraordinarily delayed, but Rousseau failed to establish such circumstances.
3. The court did not decide whether Rousseau was in detention within the meaning of § 1303 because failure to exhaust tribal remedies independently required dismissal.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Rousseau was required to exhaust available Cheyenne River Sioux tribal court remedies before seeking habeas relief under 25 U.S.C. § 1303.
2. Whether the record established that exhaustion should be excused as futile because the tribal court system was allegedly nonfunctioning or unreasonably delayed.
3. Whether the petition should be dismissed without prejudice or stayed pending exhaustion of tribal remedies.

Disposition

dismissed