Daniel Long Fox and Henry Cliff, for Themselves and All Others Similarly Situated v. Rogers Morton, Secretary of the Interior

Appellants are American Indians residing on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana. Prior to April 21, 1972, they were participants in the Tribal Work Experience Program (TWEP) operating under the Bureau of Indian Affairs Welfare program and ultimately under the supervision of officials in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of the Interior, appellees. Appellants’ tribal organization was party to a TWEP contract in which it was agreed that the participants would perform certain tasks under the program in return for monetary compensation. Funds for TWEP were granted pursuant to the Snyder Act, 25 U.S.C. § 13 .

About March 21, 1972, appellants were informed by individual letters from the BIA office that their TWEP participation would terminate upon expiration of the contract. Appellants’ attorney requested that a hearing be granted prior to termination, which request appellees refused. Appellants thereupon filed a complaint asking for injunctive and declaratory relief on the matter of the hearing. The district court denied relief to the appellants, holding they were not entitled to a due process hearing under Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254 , 90 S.Ct.…

(dissenting):

Although it may very well be that the Indians here concerned were shabbily treated, I am unable to agree that the particular relief sought, and now granted by the majority, is appropriate. The appellants were terminated from their employment under the TWEP project, not because of an administrative determination that they were ineligible, but because the funds allocated to the project had become exhausted. No one contends that the appellants had a constitutional right that the project be continued; so there is no occasion for a hearing in order that the reasons for the termination might be argued.

Judge Battin, in his “Memorandum Opinion And Order,” from which this appeal is taken, found that “the ending of TWEP in April did not effectively terminate the plaintiffs’ receipt of ordinary general assistance, for all they had to do to continue to receive checks in substantially the same amounts was to indicate their desire to do so.” There clearly was evidence to support such a finding; thus, there is no occasion for a hearing to establish the eligibility of the petitioners to continue as beneficiaries under the general relief program.

There is some indication that,…

505 F.2d 254 Daniel Long FOX and Henry Cliff, for themselves and all others similarly situated, Appellants, v. Rogers MORTON, Secretary of the Interior, et al., Appellees. No. 73-2009. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Oct. 29, 1974, As Modified on Denial of Rehearing Dec. 5, 1974. Frank Altman, Montana Legal Services Assn., Havre, Mont., for appellants. Donald R. Marble, Chester, mont., for amicus curiae, Fort Belknap Indian Community. Otis L. Packwood, U.S. Atty., Billings, Mont., for appellees. Before KILKENNY and SNEED, Circuit Judges, and GRAY, District Judge. 1 OPINION KILKENNY, Circuit Judge: 1 Appellants are American Indians residing on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana. Prior to April 21, 1972, they were participants in the Tribal Work Experience Program (TWEP) operating under the Bureau of Indian Affairs Welfare program and ultimately under the supervision of officials in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of the Interior, appellees. Appellants' tribal organization was party to a TWEP contract in which it was agreed that the participants would perform certain tasks under the program in return for monetary compensation. Funds for…