United States v. Blaine County

MEMORANDUM ***

Appellants include eight individuals who are Native American residents and voters of Blaine County, Montana, as well as the Fort Belknap Community Council, the tribal government representing the tribes of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, which is located within Blaine County. Appellants wish to intervene in a Voting Rights Act lawsuit filed in November 1999 by the United States against appellees challenging Blaine County’s at-large method of electing its Board of Commissioners. Appellants filed their motion to intervene on February 28, 2001, seeking either intervention as of right under Fed.R.Civ.P. 24(a)(2) or permissive intervention under Fed.R.Civ.P. 24(b)(2). Appellees challenged intervention; plaintiff the United States supported intervention. The district court denied the motion to intervene in an order filed June 8, 2001. The court expressly noted in its order that appellants were not foreclosed from seeking to intervene post-judgment. Appellants filed a timely notice of appeal challenging the June 8 order.

For intervention as of right under Fed. R.Civ.P. 24(a)(2): (1) the application must be timely; (2) the applicant must have a “significantly…