Southcentral Foundation v. Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, No. 18-35868 (9th Cir. 2020)
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The Ninth Circuit filed: (1) an order amending its opinion, denying a petition for panel rehearing, and denying on behalf of the court a petition for rehearing en banc; and (2) an amended opinion reversing the district court's dismissal for lack of standing of a tribal health organization's action seeking declaratory relief regarding alleged violations of a federal law concerning the provision of health services to Alaska Natives.
The panel concluded that SCF alleges an injury in fact in two distinct ways: first, that ANTHC infringed SCF's governance and participation rights under Section 325 of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1998 by delegating the full authority of the fifteen-member Board to the five-person Executive Committee; and second, that ANTHC erected informational barriers in the Code of Conduct and Disclosure Policy that deprived SCF of its ability to exercise effectively its governance and participation rights.
Court Description: Tribal Health Services / Constitutional Standing. The panel filed: (1) an order amending its opinion, denying a petition for panel rehearing, and denying on behalf of the court a petition for rehearing en banc; and (2) an amended opinion reversing the district court’s dismissal for lack of standing of a tribal health organization’s action seeking declaratory relief regarding alleged violations of a federal law concerning the provision of health services to Alaska Natives. The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (“ANTHC”) is an intertribal consortium created by Congress pursuant to Section 325 of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1998 to provide certain statewide health services at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage. Plaintiff Southcentral Foundation (“SCF”), a nonprofit regional tribal health organization, is a participant in ANTHC. SCF sued ANTHC for alleged violations of Section 325 in (1) forming an Executive Committee and delegating to it the full authority of the ANTHC Board of Directors; and (2) erecting informational barriers in a Code of Conduct and Disclosure Policy. The panel held that SCF alleged an injury in fact sufficient to confer Article III standing by alleging infringement of its governance and participation rights under SOUTHCENTRAL FOUNDATION V. ANTHC 3 Section 325, as well as deprivation of its ability to exercise these rights intelligently and effectively. The panel reversed and remanded for further proceedings.
This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on September 14, 2020.
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