Proof in Trial: Appellate Edition: Stand Up for California et al. v. U.S. Department of the Interior et al.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a unit of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) charged with administering the Corporate Transparency Act (the CTA), on Aug. 1, 2024, held a Tribal...more
In a momentous legal development, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon L. Gleason has vacated and remanded a decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to place a 787-square-foot parcel of land in downtown Juneau into...more
Revised regulations to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) went into effect January 12, 2024, setting a five-year deadline for museums and Federal agencies to consult and update inventories of...more
After years of concerns raised by Indian law practitioners and tribal leaders alike, the rules under which the Secretary of the Department of the Interior accepts lands in trust for federally recognized Indian tribes have...more
Recent proposed regulations seek to streamline and reduce costs for tribal land into trust applications and clarify parameters for negotiation and approval of tribal-state gaming compacts. The administrative process by...more
On December 5, 2022, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) published proposed revisions to 25 C.F.R. Part 151—the regulations governing the United States’ discretionary acquisition of land in trust for the...more
The White House released its National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health on Sept. 27, 2022, ahead of the second-ever White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. Specifically, the 44-page paper calls on...more
The Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (otherwise known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, or BIL), which was signed into law by President Joe Biden on November 15, 2021, has made historic investments in America’s...more
Subscribe and listen to Proof in Trial here: https://proofintrial.lnk.to/series A journalist facing a jail sentence for protecting her sources; a Native American tribe fighting to reclaim their land; a software company...more
In a recent span of thirty days, the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) and the Biden Administration announced no fewer than seven key policy proposals with the potential to greatly benefit tribes, tribal organizations and...more
In November 2021, the secretaries of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of Agriculture, Department of Transportation, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, White House Council on Environmental...more
On November 23, 2021, the US District Court for the District of Columbia invalidated a 2021 gaming compact between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the State of Florida, which permitted mobile sports wagering throughout the...more
This week: the Ninth Circuit elaborates on the Indian Gaming Regulation Act’s “two-step determination” regarding the effects of a new casino on tribal land and clarifies when a post-certification class action settlement...more
A law passed by Congress at the end of 2020 seeks to expand contracting opportunities under the Buy Indian Act (Act). Through the Indian Community Economic Enhancement Act of 2020, Congress amended the Act to expand the scope...more
With former Vice President Joe Biden winning the 2020 presidential election and Republicans poised to maintain control of the Senate, the American Indian Law & Policy Group looks ahead to 2021 and beyond to see how this...more
On Friday, August 9, 2019, in Brackeen v. Bernhardt, No. 18-11479, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit declared that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and its implementing federal regulations (“the Final Rule”)...more
On June 3, 2019, the United States lodged a proposed Consent Decree under the Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act that would resolve a suite of natural resource damages (NRD) claims by federal, state, and tribal...more
All three branches of the federal government had a busy spring. The U.S. Supreme Court just completed its 2017 term in June with a full-strength bench after spending much of the previous term with only eight justices after...more
Secretary Zinke welcomed 2018 with a proposal to reorganize the Department of the Interior’s regions by watersheds and ecosystems. Reported as his largest priority, Secretary Zinke advocates that the 13 reorganized regions,...more
On March 8, 2018, the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation (the "Tribe") filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against the United States, the Department of the...more
United States of America v. Osage Wind, LLC et al., 871 F.3d 1078 2017 WL 4109940 (10th Cir. Sept. 18, 2017). Causing heartburn for project applicants developing on tribal land, the Tenth Circuit reversed the District Court...more
In the summer of 2015, I stood along a rural highway in Caddo County, Oklahoma, with a young Kiowa allottee. He showed me the allotment that had been in his family for generations — ever since Congress, with the endorsement...more
Congress returned from the Thanksgiving holiday with an intense workload that must be completed by the end of the year. Tax reform remains a focus, and the Republican-controlled Congress is still committed to getting a final...more
On Dec. 14, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Claims Resolution Act of 2010, which, among other things, settled Cobell v. Salazar for a total of $3.4 billion after 14 years of intense litigation. Of that amount, $1.5...more
At this point in the Obama administration eight years ago, Secretary Ken Salazar was clear on his commitment to restoring tribal homelands. Embracing his trust and treaty responsibilities, Secretary Salazar left no ambiguity...more