Supreme Court Miniseries: Tribal Rights in the 21st Century
On Thursday, July 20, 2023, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee issued an order in Ultima Servs. Corp. v. U.S. Dept. of Agric., 2:20-CV-00041, finding that the rebuttable presumption (legal...more
American Indian tribes hold an exceptional legal status within the United States. As semi-sovereign entities, tribes have various rights, including enacting legislation, maintaining an independent judiciary, and governing...more
On June 15, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a significant victory to supporters of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in Haaland v. Brackeen....more
On June 15, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Haaland v. Brackeen, No. 21-376, holding that the Indian Child Welfare Act does not violate either Article I of the Constitution or the Tenth Amendment’s anti-commandeering...more
The U.S. Supreme Court made headlines with its decision in Haaland v. Brackeen, a case that has kept all of Indian Country holding its breath in anticipation. In a historic 7-2 decision, the Court upheld the Indian Child...more
Indian tribal rights led the Supreme Court’s docket yesterday. In one case, the Court held that the federal Bankruptcy Code abrogated the sovereign immunity of tribal governments. And in another, this time upholding tribal...more
This month, the US Supreme Court heard oral argument in Brackeen v. Haaland, a case concerning the constitutionality of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The challengers—individuals who sought to adopt Indian...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
In Brackeen v. Zinke, No. 4:17-cv-868-O (N.D. Tex.), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas declared that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and its implementing federal regulations (the Final Rule) are...more
Two types of challenges to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq., now feature prominently: equal protection challenges and challenges based on the “intrafamily dispute” exception to ICWA. A petition...more