Tcl - Tenth Circuit Summaries - November 2005 - U.s. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
| Publication year | 2005 |
| Pages | 141 |
| Citation | Vol. 34 No. 11 Pg. 141 |
2005, November, Pg. 141. TCL - Tenth Circuit Summaries - November 2005 - U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
November 2005
Vol. 34, No. 11 [Page 141]
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Tenth Circuit Summaries
Summaries of selected Opinions appear on a space-available basis. The summaries are prepared for the Colorado Bar Association by Jenine Jensen and Catherine Campbell, licensed Colorado attorneys. The summaries of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit are provided as a service by the Colorado Bar Association and are not the official language of the Court. The Colorado Bar Association cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the summaries.
Full copies of the Tenth Circuit decisions are accessible from the CBA website, http: //www.cobar.org/hotlinks.cfm (United States Courts link to the Tenth Circuit). Call The Colorado Lawyer Editorial Offices with questions: (303) 860-1118.
Right of Association - Retaliation - Absolute Immunity - Indian Tribal Gas Distributor
Perez v. Ellington, No. 04-2181, 08/22/2005, D.N.M., Judge McKay.
Plaintiffs are a faction of the Nambe Pueblo Indian Tribe entitled to take advantage of the gas tax deduction for Indian tribal distributors. They entered into a contract with the gas distribution organization Gasplus to manage gasoline distribution. Defendants are officials of the state tax and revenue department, who have power to regulate gasoline distribution.
Upon the urging of a political opponent of plaintiffs to investigate the Gasplus contract, defendants issued a jeopardy tax assessment and a lien against plaintiffs' property. Later, defendants determined that the Gasplus contract was not illegal, but they did not remove the lien on plaintiffs' property for more than a year. Plaintiffs sued, asserting that defendants violated their civil rights. The district court granted summary judgment to defendants on all claims except plaintiffs' claims based on their right of association. The district court declined to grant absolute immunity to defendants.
The Tenth Circuit Court determines that plaintiffs' right-of-association claim was based on their assertion that they were unconstitutionally discouraged from associating with non-tribal members because of defendants' retaliatory action. The court holds that defendants' conduct was sufficiently egregious to put an official on notice that his conduct would deter an ordinary person from continuing his association. Defendants should have known that their quick decision to issue a jeopardy tax assessment could discourage a reasonable person from associating with an outside distributor who happened to be at odds with defendants. In addition...
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