Cherokee Nation Registrar v. Nash

WILCOXEN J.,

Specially Concurring Opinion.

Plaintiff brings this petition as representative of a certified class below. Inasmuch as the action seeks enforcement of a treaty between the United States and the Cherokee Nation. Plaintiffs standing is suspect. The D.C. Circuit in Vann v. Kempthorne, 534 F.3d 741, 748 (D.C.Cir.2008) recognized this.

“Nothing in § 1 of the 13th Amendment so much as hints at a federal court suit by a private party to enforce the prohibition against badges and incidents of slavery against Indian tribes ... The 1866 Treaty similarly lacks any clear abrogation of tribal…