Can a tribe or tribal entity assert sovereign immunity when they sue a non-tribal entity in a state court?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from Twenty-Nine Palms Enters. Corp. v. Cadmus Constr., Inc., D067422 (Cal. App. 2015):

Relying on Three Affiliated Tribes v. Wold Engineering (1984) 467 U.S. 138 (Three Tribes I) and State of Arizona v. Zaman (1997) 190 Ariz. 208 (Zaman), Division Two concluded "that the sovereign immunity defense is reserved for the tribe and its entities. Thus, if a tribe or a tribal entity seeks to sue a nontribal entity in state court, then the nontribal entity cannot assert sovereign immunity as a defense." (Twenty-Nine Palms

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