Leisnoi, Inc. v. United States

Opinion by Judge CANBY; Concurrence by Judge GRABER.

Plaintiff, Leisnoi, Inc., brings an action under the Quiet Title Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2409a, to quiet title against the United States in property conveyed to Leisnoi as a Native village corporation pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 43 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq. The issue is whether the Quiet Title Act conferred jurisdiction upon the district court to remove a cloud on Leisnoi’s title. Notwithstanding our previous decision in Leisnoi, Inc. v. United States, 170 F.3d 1188 (9th Cir.1999) (“Leisnoi I”), which strongly suggested that the district court would have jurisdiction under the circumstances of the present case, the district court determined that it was without jurisdiction. We conclude that the district court erred in this determination, and we accordingly reverse.

Background

This is the second appeal taken by Leis-noi, Inc., in a dispute over title to certain *1021 lands in Alaska. Details about this complicated dispute are set out more fully in our decision in the first appeal, Leisnoi I, 170 F.3d at 1189-91 , but the basic facts are as follows.

Leisnoi, Inc., is an Alaska Native village corporation that…

concurring:

I concur in the result, because it is compelled by the majority’s rationale in Leisnoi, Inc. v. United States, 170 F.3d 1188 (9th Cir.1999). But, for the reasons explained in my concurrence in that earlier appeal, I do not believe that a third party can claim an interest on behalf of the *1026 United States for purposes of the Quiet Title Act.

267 F.3d 1019 (9th Cir. 2001) LEISNOI, INC., PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, DEFENDANT-APPELLEE. No. 00-35746 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT Argued and Submitted March 23, 2001--Portland, Oregon Filed September 24, 2001 Counsel John R. Fitzgerald, McAlpine & Cozad, New Orleans, Louisiana, for the plaintiff-appellant. Sean H. Donahue, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for the defendant-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Alaska John W. Sedwick, District Judge, Presiding D.C. No. CV-99-00608-JWS Before: William C. Canby, Jr. and Susan P. Graber, Circuit Judges, and Consuelo Bland Marshall, * District Judge. Opinion by Judge Canby; Concurrence by Judge Graber Canby, Circuit Judge Plaintiff, Leisnoi, Inc., brings an action under the Quiet Title Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2409a, to quiet title against the United States in property conveyed to Leisnoi as a Native village corporation pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 43 U.S.C. §§ 1601 et seq. The issue is whether the Quiet Title Act conferred jurisdiction upon the district court to remove a cloud on Leisnoi's title.…