Lewis v. Clarke

Lewis v. Clarke, 581 U.S. ___ (2017), is a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 8-0 that tribal sovereign immunity does not apply in a suit against a tribal employee in his individual capacity, and an immunity provision cannot extend tribal sovereign immunity to cases in which it would otherwise not apply. Justice Sonia Sotomayor delivered the majority opinion. Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg each wrote concurring opinions that both said that tribal sovereign immunity does not apply in suits arising from commercial activity off of tribal territory. Justice Neil Gorsuch was not involved in the discussion or decision of this case.[1]

Lewis v. Clarke
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 9, 2017 Decided April 25, 2017
Full case name	Brian Lewis, et al., Petitioners v. William Clarke
Docket no.	15-1500
Citations	581 U.S. ___ (more) 137 S. Ct. 1285; 197 L. Ed. 2d 631
Opinion announcement	Opinion announcement
Case history
Prior	320 Conn. 706, 135 A.3d 677 (2016); cert. granted, 137 S. Ct. 31 (2016).
Holding
Tribal sovereign immunity does not extend to suits against a tribal employee acting in his individual capacity. Supreme Court of Connecticut reversed and remanded.
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts Associate Justices Anthony Kennedy · Clarence Thomas Ruth Bader Ginsburg · Stephen Breyer Samuel Alito · Sonia Sotomayor Elena Kagan · Neil Gorsuch
Case opinions
Majority	Sotomayor, joined by Roberts, Kennedy, Breyer, Alito, Kagan
Concurrence	Thomas
Concurrence	Ginsburg
Gorsuch took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.