Jeff Davis to Join Private Practice

Jeff Davis, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and the tribal liaison for the Western District of Michigan, has decided to leave the United States Attorney’s Office in Grand Rapids for private practice. Here is his letter to tribes announcing his departure:

Jeff Davis Letter

Jeff has been the tribal liaison for the Western District of Michigan for many years. Long before the Indian Law and Order Commission (of which he was a member), the Michigan Tribal-State-Federal Judicial Forum (of which was also a participant), and VAWA (which he has been instrumental in implementing), Jeff was one of the relatively few AUSAs in the country who took Indian country crime seriously. Well, he was one of the first and often only tribal liaisons west of the Mississippi for many years. He leaves an important legacy for the next tribal liaison in GR.

We wish Jeff luck in his new endeavors. Miigwetch is the right way to say thanks and chi-miigwetch is the way to say many thanks, but neither captures the amount of gratitude Indian country owes Jeff Davis.

American Indian Law Journal Volume 6, Issue 1

Here:

Volume 6, Issue 1 (2017)

Articles

Tenth Circuit Dismisses Caddo Sacred Sites Dispute with Wichita for Mootness

Here is the opinion in Caddo Nation of Oklahoma v. Wichita and Affiliated Tribes.

Materials here.

Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski to Immediately Retire

From WaPo, here.

Update in Comenout Litigation II

Here are updated materials in Comenout v. Pittman (formerly Comenout v. Pierce County Superior Court) (W.D. Wash.):

70 DCT order dismissing complaint

77 DCT order granting motion to file amended complaint

103 state official motion to dismiss

105 opposition

108 reply

110 DCT order

Prior posts here.

OIG Report: “Review of the Department’s Tribal Law Enforcement Efforts Pursuant to the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010”

OIG Indian Country Crimes Report

Norton v. Ute Indian Tribe Cert Petition

Here:

Cert Petition

Question presented:

In light of the clear precedent of Nevada v. Hicks, 533 U.S. 353 (2001), which holds that state law enforcement officers are not subject to suit in a tribal court for claims arising out of the performance of their duties on tribal lands, did the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals err in requiring Petitioners to exhaust their remedies in the Ute Tribal Court in order to determine whether that Court has jurisdiction to hear a trespass claim arising out of Petitioners’ performance of their official duties that the Ute Indian Tribe brought against them in the Ute Tribal Court?

Lower court materials here.

UPDATE:

Brief in Opposition

Reply

Oklahoma City Journal Record Op-Ed: “Government leaders should learn from tribes”

Here.

* the smartest PEOPLE in the room. -KF

NYTs Profile on Cherokee Suit against Opioid Manufacturers and Distributors

Here is “In Opioid Battle, Cherokee Want Their Day in Tribal Court.”

 

Orwellian Trump Administration’s Current List of Banned Words: “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.”

From WaPo, here, as communicated to the Centers for a Disease Control and Prevention.