 Tureen was critical of Gellers' strategy because it required suing in state court (which he believed would be biased against any such claim), because it limited the claim to the promised by the 1794 treaty, and because it would leave the tribes under state jurisdiction and ineligible for federal benefits.One theory that Tureen considered in order to overcome Maine's sovereign immunity was to rely on "United States v. Lee (1882)", which had permitted a land claim by the heirs of Robert E. Lee against the federal government.Tureen also feared that a federal court would find that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction for an ejectment action due to the well-pleaded complaint rule, although the Supreme Court held otherwise in "Oneida Indian Nation of New York v. County of Oneida" (1974)—decided three years after the "Passamaquoddy" complaint was filed.