ATWOOD v. FORT PECK
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today released an opinion in ATWOOD v. FORT PECK, No. 06-35299, a federal appeal. The panel consisted of William C. Canby, Jr., Susan P. Graber, and Ronald M. Gould, Circuit Judges.
GRABER, Circuit Judge:
This case involves a custody dispute concerning an Indian child, Lexie. After the untimely death of Lexie’s mother, Lexie’s maternal aunt, Defendant Linda L. Flynn Hanson, sought custody through Defendant Fort Peck Tribal Court (”Tribal Court”). The Tribal Court granted temporary custody to Lexie’s maternal grandmother pending the outcome of the custody dispute. Lexie’s non-Indian father, Plaintiff Ross Atwood, then brought this action in federal district court, challenging the jurisdiction of the Tribal Court and alleging a substantive due process violation. The district court dismissed the case, relying on the domestic relations exception to subject matter jurisdiction and on Plaintiff’s failure to exhaust tribal court remedies. . . .