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Judge Dismisses Suit Against Oklahoma Tax Commission  

TULSA, Okla. -- A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the Oklahoma Tax Commission and tax commissioners filed by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation after the commission seized what it called contraband cigarettes from tribal delivery trucks, reported The Tulsa World.

In his decision issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Terence Kern of the Tulsa, Okla.-based Northern District of Oklahoma granted the OTC's motion to dismiss the seizure case because the commission's "sovereign immunity" exempts it from suit, said the report.

He also granted the OTC commissioners' motions to dismiss because, under the tribe's arguments, the tribal entity does not constitute a "person" who can bring suit.

The tribe filed the suit in May after the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, working with the Oklahoma Tax Commission, stopped three different tribal vehicles, and seized a total of about $100,000 worth of tobacco out of two of the vehicles.

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