Denying Disgorgement: The Supreme Court’s Refusal to Grant the Crow Tribe Relief

Abstract

In Montana v. Crow Tribe of Indians, the United States Supreme Court declined to award the Crow Tribe of Indians disgorgement of coal taxes collected by Montana from a mining company with operations on the Tribe’s reservation. The Supreme Court justified its decision by distinguishing the 1939 Montana Supreme Court case Valley County v. Thomas, referencing the precedent set by Cotton Petroleum Corp. v. New Mexico, and noting that the Tribe lacked the necessary approval to tax from the Department of the Interior. This Comment argues that the Supreme Court should have granted the Tribe full disgorgement, partial disgorgement, or compensatory damages.