On January 10, 2006, in an "en banc" decision, Judge Bybee wrote the opinion for the majority in the case of "Smith v. Salish Kootenai College". In that case, James Smith sought to have a case heard in federal court which he had previously brought in a tribal court. When he disagreed with the tribal court's decision, he claimed that it had had no jurisdiction in the first place. In an 8-3 decision, the Court upheld the tribal court's jurisdiction over the subject matter, thereby strengthening tribal courts' rights to claim jurisdiction.