Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation v. Mark Simonich
Opinion
Opinion
Thompson, J.
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation (Tribes) filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Montana challenging Montana’s right to regulate the use of water on the Flathead Reservation. Contemporaneous with this filing, the Tribes filed motions requesting the district court to (1) stay the federal proceedings pursuant to Railroad Comm’n of Texas v. Pullman, 312 U.S. 496 , 61 S.Ct. 643 , 85 L.Ed. 971 (1941), and (2) reserve their right to litigate their federal claims in federal court pursuant to England v. Louisiana State Bd. of Medical Examiners, 375 U.S. 411 , 84 S.Ct. 461 , 11 L.Ed.2d 440 (1964), pending resolution of a related state court action filed by the Tribes later that day. The defendants, the Director of Montana’s Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC), and Frank Pope, Kenneth Ciotti, Jorrie Ciotti, Patricia Star-ner, and John Starner, non-Indian applicants for water use permits, responded by moving the district court to abstain under Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37 , 91 S.Ct. 746 , 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971), and dismiss the federal action.