Oklahoma v. Johnny Edward Mize, II (SCT)

Brief amicus curiae of Muscogee (Creek) Nation in support of Respondent Johnny Edward Mize, II

Cert opposition Brief of respondent Johnny Edward Mize, II

Oklahoma’s Petition for a writ of certiorari

Questions Presented

  1. Whether a State has authority to prosecute non-Indians who commit crimes against Indians in Indian country.
  2. Whether McGirt v. Oklahoma, 140 S.Ct. 2452 (2020) should be overruled.

Opinion of the OK Court of Criminal Appeals

Indian Law Issues in the News (10/8/2021)

Neoshia Roemer
University of Idaho College of Law Asst. Prof. Neoshia Roemer

NPR: The Indian Child Welfare Act Faces Its Biggest Challenge Yet (featuring former ILPC staff attorney and current University of Idaho College of Law Asst. Prof. Neoshia Roemer!)

NYTs: After Denying Care to Black Natives, Indian Health Service Reverses Policy

White House: A Proclamation on Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2021

Reuters: ‘Solar warriors’ train for Native America energy fight

California Attorney General: Attorney General Bonta Leads Bipartisan Coalition of 26 Attorneys General in Defense of Indian Child Welfare Act Protections Before the U.S. Supreme Court

Salt Lake Tribune: Lawmakers prep bill to protect Indigenous children in Utah’s child welfare system

ABC News (video): Native American tribes plea for help as Colorado River dries up

US News & World Report: Oklahoma Court Reject’s Death Row Inmates’ McGirt Appeal

Michigan Tribes in the News (10/7/2021)

Gov. Whitmer meets Tribal Leaders

The Sault News: Governor Whitmer, cabinet members meet with Tribal leaders

WaPo: ‘This is a crisis’: Tens of thousands of children affected by pandemic-related deaths of parents

Michigan Advance: Mich. tribal leaders praise Warren bill addressing Native boarding school trauma

Michigan Radio: Stateside: Michigan’s Native boarding schools; kids and past pandemics; Whitmer kidnapping plot case

Green Matters: The Line 5 Pipeline May Unfortunately Continue Running for the Long Haul

The Sault News: Op-Ed: End the filibuster to protect Indian voting rights

Indian Law Issues in the News (10/7/2021)

Marie Wilcox

NYTs: Marie Wilcox, Who Saved Her Native Language From Extinction, Dies at 87

AP: Maryland does not display Native American COVID-19 data

NBC News: Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans disproportionally killed by Covid-19 last year, study says

HCN: How the U.S. legal system ignores Tribal law

Kotaradio.com: Sen. Mike Rounds Introduces Tribal Food Sovereignty Act

WTOP.com: Hawaii panel shines light on missing, slain Indigenous girls

Tri-City Herald: Washington Tribes share these environmental concerns with Biden representative

Indian Law Issues in the News (10/6/2021)

Shelly Lowe

NEH: President Biden Nominates Shelly Lowe (Navajo) to Chair the National Endowment for the Humanities Congratulations to Shelly!

NYTs: Indian Health Service ‘Willfully Ignored’ Sexual Abuse by Doctor, Report Finds

Grist: The Colorado River is drying up. Here’s how that affects Indigenous water rights

Grist: States, tribes, and NGOs hold polluters accountable in a ‘tidal wave’ of greenwashing lawsuits

Mercury News: San Jose State: Professor smiling with Native American skull ignites fiery debate

Navajo-Hopi Observer: First Native American poet laureate Joy Harjo begins third term, releases memoir

Congratulations to Lauren King!

Lauren King

Native News Online: Muscogee Nation Citizen Lauren J. King Confirmed by US Senate to Serve as Federal District Judge

In campaign for U.S. House, new ad for NC state Rep. Charles Graham (Lumbee) recalls Lumbee Tribe’s 1958 faceoff with the KKK

Click on the image below to view the ad:

Charles Graham ad

Odessa American, Jan. 20, 1958

Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe brings second lawsuit against City of Seattle in Skagit dams controversy [updated with pleadings]

In a second lawsuit brought by the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe against the City of Seattle regarding the Skagit Hydroelectric Project, the Tribe requests an order restraining Seattle City Light from “greenwashing” itself; i.e., advertising itself as environmentally responsible. The Tribe claims that Seattle should be restrained from greenwashing until the city provides fish passage at its three Skagit River dams.

Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe v Seattle Complaint (King Cty. Super. Ct., Wash.)

Pleadings filed in the Sauk-Suiattle’s earlier ongoing dams/fish passage lawsuit against Seattle are available here.

Updated pleadings:

5 Amended Complaint

7 Tribe Motion to Remand

11 City Motion to Dismiss

13 Tribe Response to 11

16 City Reply in Support of 11

17 City Response to 7

18 Reply in Support of 7

19 DCT Order Denying Remand

Indian Law Issues in the News (10/5/21)

Sun Herald: This Louisiana tribe lost most of its homes to Hurricane Ida. ‘This was the big one.’

GoSkagit.com: Legal battles unfold during Skagit River dam relicensing

The Circle: Dry conditions boost MN’s wild rice crop, but climate change leaves future uncertain

Red Green and Blue: Line 3 Pipeline is completed, but Water Protectors vow to keep fighting

Cherokee Phoenix: Post-McGirt, Cherokee Nation detention costs jump from $37,000 to $800,000-plus

Denver Post: Colorado’s Native American tribes kept in the dark on Bureau of Land Management decision to move HQ back to D.C.