Link to press release here.
News Release From the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians in Support of the Burns Paiute Tribe
Link to press release here.
Author: Sarah M Donnelly
Lac Vieux Desert Band Buys Bellicose Capital, LLC
Link to news coverage here.
In a major deal that will bring millions of dollars in economic development to the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians (LVD) and its geographically isolated reservation in Watersmeet, MI, LVD has today announced that it has completed the purchase of Bellicose Capital. Bellicose has been a valued service provider to the Tribe’s lending business and talks to acquire Bellicose have been underway for several years.
Nooksack 306 Allowed to Vote in Elections While IBIA Review is Pending
Belmont v Kelly Defendants’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction
Belmont v Kelly Plaintiffs’ Response to Defendants’ Motion for Preliminary Injuction
Belmont v Kelly Defendants’ Reply on Motion for Preliminary Injunction
Belmont v Kelly Order Denying Defendants’ Motion for Preliminary Injuction
Link to decision coverage in The Bellingham Herald here.
Nooksack Tribal Court has upheld the voting rights of over 300 Nooksack members facing disenrollment over a controversial ordinance passed in 2014. While the federal review of that ordinance drags along, the Tribe requested that contested members be prevented from voting in Tribal elections.
Judge Susan Alexander wrote that the marked members were allowed to vote in 2014 when their enrollment was in doubt, but now the Tribe has unilaterally changed their minds to protect open seats in this year’s general election.
Request for National NALSA Writing Competition Judges
The National Native American Law Students Association (National NALSA) is seeking judges for its 15th Annual Writing Competition, hosted by the Columbia Law School NALSA chapter and the Columbia Journal of Race and Law.
Each year law professors and attorneys generously volunteer their time to review the submissions. At this time, we are seeking judges for this year’s competition. The participation of the judges is necessary to ensure the success of the competition and that the current Indian law community continues to encourage and recognize talented scholarship.
We hope you will consider donating your time to the competition as a judge. Judges will receive between one and four submissions during the middle of February and will have roughly a month to review and score the submissions. Winners will be announced at the Federal Bar Association Indian Law Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona on April 7–8, 2016.
The purpose of the competition is to recognize excellence in legal research and writing related to Indian law, actively encourage the development of writing skills of NNALSA members, and enhance substantive knowledge in the fields of Federal Indian Law, Tribal Law and traditional forms of governance. The competition is open to matriculated law students at any point in their law school career who are current NNALSA members. Any law student is eligible to become a NNALSA member and may do so at www.nationalnalsa.org.
Thank you very much for your consideration. If you are interested in judging or if you have any other questions, please email Julia Bedell, Columbia NALSA 3L Representative, at jmb2369@columbia.edu.
South Dakota Dismisses Inmate Suit Against Rosebud Sioux Prison Officials
Opinion and Order Granting Leave to Proceed In Forma Pauperis and Dismissing Complaint in the matter of Whiting v. Eagle Bear (Jan. 22 2016).
William Whiting claimed constitutional violations, but the district court found it did not have jurisdiction to hear the case and defendants are immune. Whiting must use administrative remedies.
Ramah Fairness Hearing Minutes
Things heat up on page 10 when attorneys call as a witness Professor Brian Fitzpatrick of Vanderbilt Law School to convince the court that 8.5% in attorney’s fees is fair when the Lodestar method would have awarded slightly less. Ramah Class was awarded $940 million so that means $79 million will be fees. Since class counsel spent just under 20,000 hours on the case the rate comes out to just under $4k/hour. The court didn’t conduct its own Lodestar check.
NIWRC Urges the Supreme Court to Uphold Firearm Protections for Native Survivors of Domestic Violence
Link to press release here.
Brief of Amici Curiae in Support of Respondents here.
The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center submitted an amicus in support of the DOJ’s case against two Maine men who violated federal law for possessing firearms when convicted of domestic violence. The men argue that their reckless misdemeanors shouldn’t bar them from owning guns.
“Petitioners attempt to conflate ‘reckless’ domestic violence crimes with ‘accidents,’” NIWRC’s attorney, Mary Kathryn Nagle, a partner at Pipestem Law, PC, states. “Domestic violence crimes prosecuted under tribal law, however, are not accidents. Tribal Courts that prosecute for ‘reckless’ domestic violence crimes establish a standard that requires demonstrating the defendant acted with a ‘conscious disregard’ for the safety and welfare of the defendant’s intimate partner. There is no doubt Congress intended for the Lautenberg Amendment to cover these crimes.”
Six Tribes signed onto the brief: Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Eastern Band of Cherokee, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa, Nottaweseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, Seminole Nation, and Tulalip Tribes. They are urging the Supreme Court to uphold the convictions for VAWA and Native women, who are more at risk to gun and domestic violence by repeat offenders.
MSU Indigenous Law Grad In Nebraska Bar’s Young Lawyers Section
Link to Nov/Dec 2015 young lawyers section page here.
Lindsey Schuler is a 2013 grad of the Certificate Program and currently an Associate for Frederick Peebles & Morgan LLP in Omaha.
California Indian Legal Services Seek Sacramento Staff Attorney
Link to announcement and description here.
The Sacramento office provides legal services in 38 counties that include 51 of the 110 federally recognized tribes in California. This service area also includes numerous non-federally recognized tribes and one of the largest urban Indian communities in the United States. Additional information about CILS may be found on our website, at http://www.calindian.org.
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