25 U.S.C. § 1401
Section 1401 · Funds appropriated in satisfaction of judgments of Indian Claims Commission or United States Court of Federal Claims
This is the Indian Tribal Judgment Funds Use or Distribution Act
Amended 4 times on record
Applied in 18 court decisions — leading case Short v. United States (1981)
Most recently applied in Peter v. NantKwest, Inc. (December 2019)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Notwithstanding any other law, all use or distribution of funds appropriated in satisfaction of a judgment of the Indian Claims Commission or the United States Court of Federal Claims in favor of any Indian tribe, band, group, pueblo, or community (hereinafter referred to as “Indian tribe”), together with any investment income earned thereon, after payment of attorney fees and litigation expenses, shall be made pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
Except as provided in sections 164 and 165 of this title, amounts which the Secretary of the Interior has remaining after execution of either a plan under this chapter, or another Act enacted heretofore or hereafter providing for the use or distribution of amounts awarded in satisfaction of a judgment in favor of an Indian tribe or tribes, together with any investment income earned thereon and after payment of attorney fees and litigation expenses, shall be held in trust by the Secretary for the tribe or tribes involved if the plan or Act does not otherwise provide for the use of such amounts.
This chapter may be cited as the “Indian Tribal Judgment Funds Use or Distribution Act”.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
References in Text
The Indian Claims Commission, referred to in text, terminated Sept. 30, 1978. See Codification note set out under former section 70 et seq. of this title.
Amendments
1992—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102–572 substituted “United States Court of Federal Claims” for “United States Claims Court”.
1987—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100–153, §4(1), (2), designated existing provision as subsec. (a) and substituted “any investment income” for “any interest”.
Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 100–153, §4(3), added subsecs. (b) and (c).
1982—Pub. L. 97–164 substituted “United States Claims Court” for “Court of Claims”.
Effective Date of 1992 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 102–572 effective Oct. 29, 1992, see section 911 of Pub. L. 102–572, set out as a note under section 171 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Effective Date of 1982 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 97–164 effective Oct. 1, 1982, see section 402 of Pub. L. 97–164, set out as a note under section 171 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.