SELECTED COURT DECISIONS
In Cayuga Indian Nation of New York v. Seneca
County, New York, 2020 WL 6253332 (2d Cir. 2020), the Cayuga
Indian Nation of New York had purchased land in Seneca County in
2007. When the Nation refused to pay property taxes, the County
sought to foreclose under Article 11 of the New York Real Property
Tax Law. The Nation sued in federal court to enjoin the
foreclosure, based on its sovereign immunity. The County argued
that the immovable property exception to sovereign immunity
discussed by the Supreme Court in its 2018 decision
in Upper Skagit Indian Tribe v. Lundgren
applied. The district court disagreed and enjoined the foreclosure
on the ground of tribal sovereign immunity and the Second Circuit
Court of Appeals affirmed: “[W]e conclude that, even were we
to recognize the County's proposed exception to immunity, the
Foreclosure Actions lie outside its bounds. As we explain below,
the Foreclosure Actions do not seek to establish
