Here:
Lower court materials here.
Author: Matthew L.M. Fletcher
Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment in Oklahoma v. Interior
Here are the new pleadings in State of Oklahoma v. Dept. of the Interior (W.D. Okla.):
Prior post here.
New Mexico Federal Court Dismisses Most of Federal Criminal Charges against Navajo Citizen for Selling Hawk and Eagle Feathers
Here are the materials in United States v. Skeet (D.N.M.):
Utah and Counties Sue Government over Restoration of Bear Ears
Here is the complaint in Garfield County v. Biden (D. Utah):
Second Circuit Issues Decision in Shinnecock Fishing Rights Case
Non-decision, more like. Here are the materials in Silva v. Farrish:
Opinion here. Excerpt from the court’s syllabus:
We hold that Ex parte Young applies to the plaintiffs’ fishing-rights claims against the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“DEC”) officials— but not against the DEC itself—because the plaintiffs allege an ongoing violation of federal law and seek prospective relief against state officials. We also hold that the plaintiffs have Article III standing to seek prospective relief and that Younger abstention no longer bars Silva from seeking prospective relief because his criminal proceedings have ended. We therefore conclude that the district court erred in granting summary judgment to the DEC officials on the plaintiffs’ claims for declaratory and injunctive relief. The district court properly granted summary judgment on the discrimination claims because there is no evidence in the record that would permit an inference of discriminatory intent.
Lower court materials here.
Eighth Circuit Briefs in WPX Energy Williston LLC v. Fettig
Michigan Federal Court Dismisses Sault Tribe Casinos’ Effort to Block State Court Contract Claims Initiated by Casino Development Corp.
Here are the materials in Kewadin Casinos Gaming Authority v. Draganchuk (W.D. Mich.):
Prior post here.
Materials on Kewadin’s failed effort to remove the state court claims to federal court here.
Law360 piece on state court sanctions issued against the tribe.
Neoshia Roemer on ICWA as Reproductive Justice
Neoshia Roemer has posted “The Indian Child Welfare Act as Reproductive Justice,” forthcoming in the Boston University Law Review, on SSRN.
Here is the abstract:
After decades of abuse through family regulation, Congress enacted the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (“ICWA”) to prevent the breakup of Indian families and promote tribal sovereignty. While ICWA seems like an outlier that addresses one category of children, it is not an outlier. Rather, I argue that ICWA is a tool of reproductive justice. By formulating a legal rights framework for reproductive justice in American jurisprudence, I discuss how the reproductive justice movement is grounded in U.S. law beyond the right to terminate a pregnancy that the Supreme Court abrogated in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. By looking at the history of reproductive rights in American Indian communities, I discuss how family regulation challenges reproductive rights and tribal sovereignty considering Dobbs and Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta. Indian child removals exist in the same history, context, and policy that disrupted the reproductive rights of American Indian families and tribal sovereignty in other areas. Before concluding that ICWA is still good law and good policy to disrupt family regulation and protect the reproductive rights of American Indian peoples, I consider where challenges to ICWA in Haaland v. Brackeen fit into this paradigm and the ongoing need for the protection of tribal sovereignty and reproductive rights for American Indian peoples. For nearly 400 years, the disruption of reproductive rights, including family regulation, has been at the heart of federal Indian policy. The current frame of family regulation as “saving” children means that it is often divorced from the notion of reproductive rights. As the history behind and contemporary challenges to ICWA demonstrate, it should not, and cannot, be separated from the other reproductive justice issues facing American Indian communities. To strengthen legal protections for American Indian people that disrupt these government interventions, like ICWA, is to realize reproductive rights more fully in the United States.
Highly recommended!!!
New Edition of Kaighn Smith’s “Labor and Employment Law in Indian Country” Now Available
Blurb:
Eleven years after the first edition of this book, labor and employment law in Indian country remains a critical battleground for tribal sovereignty. We have fully updated this book with a decade’s worth of new developments.
Labor and Employment Law in Indian Country, 2022 Edition, provides a comprehensive overview of the law governing labor and employment relations in Indian country. This is a growing, controversial, and complex area of law, implicating fundamental principles of tribal sovereignty at every turn. It is a must-read for anyone involved in Indian affairs today.
The author, Drummond Woodsum attorney, Kaighn Smith, Jr., represents Indian tribes in tribal, state, and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. He and his colleagues at Drummond Woodsum’s Tribal Nations Labor and Employment Group have assisted tribes in enacting, implementing, and defending some of the first comprehensive labor and employment laws in Indian country.
Editorial Reviews
“The business of tribal sovereignty starts with tribal government. Labor and Employment Law in Indian Country is a standard-bearer for the development of modern tribal government. It should be on the bookshelf of every tribal lawyer.”
– Matthew L.M. Fletcher, Harry Burns Hutchins Collegiate Professor of Law and Professor of American Culture, University of Michigan, Founder of Turtle Talk
“Labor and Employment Law in Indian Country takes a complex and critically important subject for all Tribal Nations and lays it out in an easy-to-understand manner that balances both the big-picture outlook and the, oftentimes, gritty details that come with any law topic. This book is an essential read for all tribal leaders, tribal attorneys, tribal code drafters, as well as human resources and upper management personnel. . . .”
– Fawn Sharp, Vice President of the Quinault Indian Nation & President of the National Congress of American Indians
Ryan Zinke Misled (Lied?) in Interior Inspector General Investigation
Here is the report titled “Former Secretary and Chief of Staff Did Not Comply With Their Duty of Candor.”
Turtle Talk 
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