Inyo County v. Paiute-Shoshone Indians of Bishop Community of Bishop Colony, 538 U.S. 701, 10 (2003)

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710

INYO COUNTY v. PAIUTE-SHOSHONE INDIANS OF BISHOP COMMUNITY OF BISHOP COLONY

Opinion of the Court

that " 'person' does not include the sovereign." Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 7-8 (some internal quotation marks omitted). Furthermore, the Government urges, given the Court's decision that "person" excludes sovereigns as defendants under § 1983, it would be anomalous for the Court to give the same word a different meaning when it appears later in the same sentence. Id., at 8; see Brown v. Gardner, 513 U. S. 115, 118 (1994) (the "presumption that a given term is used to mean the same thing throughout a statute" is "surely at its most vigorous when a term is repeated within a given sentence"); cf. Lafayette v. Louisiana Power & Light Co., 435 U. S. 389, 397 (1978) (because municipalities are "persons" entitled to sue under the antitrust laws, they are also, in principle, "persons" capable of being sued under those laws).

The Tribe responds that Congress intended § 1983 "to provide a powerful civil remedy 'against all forms of official violation of federally protected rights.' " Brief for Respondents 45 (quoting Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs., 436 U. S. 658, 700-701 (1978)). To achieve that remedial purpose, the Tribe maintains, § 1983 should be "broadly construed." Brief for Respondents 45 (citing Monell, 436 U. S., at 684-685 (internal quotation marks omitted)). Indian tribes, the Tribe here asserts, "have been especially vulnerable to infringement of their federally protected rights by states." Brief for Respondents 42 (citing, inter alia, The Kansas Indians, 5 Wall. 737 (1867) (state taxation of tribal lands); Minnesota v. Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians, 526 U. S. 172 (1999) (state infringement on tribal rights to hunt, fish, and gather on ceded lands); Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield, 490 U. S. 30 (1989) (tribal jurisdiction over Indian child custody proceedings); California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, 480 U. S. 202 (1987) (state attempt to regulate gambling on tribal land)). To guard against such infringements, the Tribe contends, the

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