John v. Baker
Supreme Court of Alaska
982 P.2d 738 (Alaska 1999)
Relevant factsFree
John (plaintiff) and Baker (defendant), both Alaska Natives who had amicably co-parented after separating, ended up in a custody dispute when Baker, a Northway Village Tribe member, filed for sole custody in Northway Tribal Court, which John agreed to and which granted shared custody. Unhappy with that result, Baker then filed a separate action in Alaska state superior court, which granted him full custody; John appealed, arguing the tribal court's prior adjudication should have controlled and the state court should have dismissed Baker's duplicate suit.
IssueFree
Whether Alaska Native tribes have inherent non-territorial sovereignty to adjudicate child-custody disputes between tribal members.