# Sheffer v. Buffalo Run Casino, PTE, Inc.

> Supreme Court of Oklahoma · September 24, 2013 · 315 P.3d 359

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/5159245

## Case

- **Full name:** Charles SHEFFER Jennifer Sheffer and J.S., a minor by and through his parents and next friends, Charles Sheffer and Jennifer Sheffer v. BUFFALO RUN CASINO, PTE, INC. and Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, and Carolina Forge Company, LL.C., David Billups and William Garris, III
- **Court:** Supreme Court of Oklahoma
- **Decided:** September 24, 2013
- **Citations:** 315 P.3d 359; 2013 OK 77; 2013 Okla. LEXIS 105; 2013 WL 5332615
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Taylor
- **Judges:** Colbert, Combs, Edmondson, Gurich, Kauger, Reif, Taylor, Watt, Winchester, Writing
- **Cited by:** 20 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/5159245

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- holding a tribe did not waive its sovereign immunity by applying for and accepting a liquor license—which required the tribe to agree not to violate federal, state, or municipal law— because by doing so the tribe merely promised to comply with those laws, not subject itself to…
- holding tribe did not waive sovereign immunity by applying for and accepting liquor license

## Opinion text

T 53 TAYLOR, J.,
with whom WINCHESTER, J., joins, dissenting.
Over the past century, the United States Supreme Court, with little analysis and almost by accident, developed the doctrine of tribal immunity to protect nascent tribal governments and tribal self-governance from encroachments by the States; and some fifteen years ago, the High Court expressly doubted its wisdom in the modern economy where the immunity can harm those who are unaware they are dealing with a tribe, particularly tort victims. Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma v. Manufacturing Technologies, Inc., 528 U.S. 751 , 756, 758, 118 S.Ct. 1700, 1708, 1704 , 140 L.Ed.2d 981 . Without any compelling reason or precedential authority, today's opinion expands the federal judge-made default doe-trine of tribal immunity at the State's expense, diminishing the authority of the state courts and wiping out state law protections for its citizens harmed by tribal commercial activities. I must respectfully dissent.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/5159245. Public record. Not legal advice.