Sagana v. Tenorio

384 F.3d 731 Bonifacio Vitug SAGANA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Joaquin A. TENORIO, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Department of Labor and Immigration, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Defendant-Appellee. No. 03-15779. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted April 30, 2004. Filed September 7, 2004. As Amended, October 18, 2004. COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED Joe Hill, Saipan, MP, for the plaintiff-appellant. James D. Livingstone, Assistant Attorney General, Saipan, MP, for the defendant-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of the Northern Mariana Islands; Alex R. Munson, Chief Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-01-00003-ARM. Before: SCHROEDER, Chief Judge, GOODWIN, and WALLACE, Circuit Judges. GOODWIN, Circuit Judge. 1 Bonifacio Vitug Sagana appeals the district court's denial of his motion for summary judgment challenging the Nonresident Workers Act ("NWA"), 3 N. Mar. I.Code § 4411 et seq. (1999), of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands ("CNMI"). He argues that the NWA restricts his right to freely market his labor in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and the Fourteenth Amendment's…