Author: Kate E. Fort

28th Annual Indian Law Symposium at University of Washington

Kate Fort

Here.

About the Program

Join us for the 28th Annual University of Washington Indian Law Symposium! As in past years, the conference includes comprehensive litigation and legislation updates and a number of topics of interest to a broad array of practitioners.

Program Highlights

  • Keynote by EPA’s Deputy General Counsel
  • Basics of Criminal Jurisdiction Under VAWA & TLOA
  • Federal Environmental Laws in Indian Country
  • Tribal Taxation Issues in Washington
  • Ethical Issues in Tribal Court
  • Current Indian Religious Freedom Questions
  • Federal Legislative Update
  • Public Defense in Tribal Courts
  • Non-gaming Economic Development Strategies
  • Annual Litigation Update

Statewide Listening Sessions with Native Peoples in Massachusetts

Kate Fort1 Comment

Press release here:

(Boston, July 9, 2015) – UMass Boston’s Institute for New England Native American Studies (INENAS) and Suffolk University Law School’s Indigenous Peoples Rights Clinic are pleased to announce a year-long, statewide project, Massachusetts Native Peoples and the Social Contract: A Reassessment for Our Times.

Supported by a grant from Mass Humanities, the two organizations will host four roundtable discussions and listening sessions in areas of the state with substantial Native American populations.

The goal is to bring Native peoples’ voices to the forefront, engaging Natives in Massachusetts in looking at the past, the present, and the future through the lens of the social contract between the state and Native peoples whose homelands are within the borders of the state, and discussing issues affecting tribal members and the communities.

In conjunction with tribal leaders from tribal communities, INENAS Director Cedric Woods and Nicole Friederichs, director of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Clinic, will lead the roundtable discussions and moderate the listening sessions in Worcester, Boston, Mashpee, and Amherst. The first session will be held in Worcester Public Library on August 29, hosted by the Nipmuc Tribe.

All are welcome to attend these important events; there will be an opportunity for those present to share their thoughts.

The four roundtable discussions will he held:

  •   Worcester Public Library- August 29, 2-4 p.m.
  •   Mashpee Wampanoag government building, Mashpee- October 3, 4-6 p.m.
  •   UMass Amherst, Commonwealth Honors College Events Hall, Rm. 160 (Next to RootsCafé) – November 5, 6-8 p.m.
  •   North American Indian Center of Boston, 105 South Huntington Ave. Jamaica Plain- March11, 2016, noon to 2 p.m.

 

Poarch Band Wins Preliminary Injunction in Property Tax Case

Kate Fort1 Comment

Order here.

Previous coverage here.

This case arises from a complaint filed by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians (“the Tribe”) against in James H. Hildreth, Jr. (“Hildreth”), in his official capacity as the Tax Assessor of Escambia County. In the complaint, the Tribe sought relief to prevent Hildreth from levying property taxes against United States trust property held for the benefit of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. Before the Court is the Tribe’s motion for a preliminary injunction (Doc. 12) against James Hildreth, the Tax Assessor of Escambia Co., Alabama; Hildreth’s corrected response in opposition (Doc. 16); the Tribe’s reply (Doc. 25); and Hildreth’s sur-reply (Doc 29). For the reasons stated below, the Court finds the Tribe is entitled to preliminary injunctive relief.

TLPI 4th Annual Healing to Wellness Court Enhancement Training, Sept. 8-10

Kate Fort

Here.

Among many other presenters, Fort & Vicaire will be talking about tribal veterans courts, family law, and (you guessed it) ICWA.

Law School Clinical Assistance Webinar on VAWA Enhanced Jurisdiction

Kate Fort

Here.

This webinar will focus on ways for law school clinics to provide assistance to tribes seeking to exercise the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) 2013 enhanced jurisdiction. Indian tribes now have the general authority to implement criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians who violate protective orders or commit domestic violence or dating violence against Indian victims on tribal lands. Tribes wishing to exercise this Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction over non-Indians (SDVCJ) must provide certain rights to criminal defendants and meet certain legal requirements.

Article on Enbridge Pipelines and Lawsuit Against Judge Botsford in North Dakota

Kate Fort2 Comments

Here.

[James] Botsford, a North Dakota farm owner, learned that in September 2013, when Enbridge informed him that the company was seeking a temporary restraining order against him. Botsford, who is also an attorney and a Supreme Court judge for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, had tried to prevent Enbridge from surveying his land for the Sandpiper’s possible route. Botsford, who strongly opposes the pipeline’s construction, believed that the survey would be “the camel’s nose under the tent.” He attempted to refuse the company access to his farm.

“To that, they basically said, ‘We’re Enbridge, we don’t go around anything, we go through it,’ ” says Botsford.

Enbridge got its restraining order, forcing Botsford to allow the company to complete the survey. The pipeline’s route, Botsford believes, was “basically already a done deal,” and he soon heard from the company again. This time, Enbridge wanted Botsford to grant him an  easement—a legal right to use another’s property for a specific purpose, in this case the construction and maintenance of a pipeline. After Botsford refused, twice, to sign an easement agreement, the company filed a civil suit against him in June.

Gofundme link to the Botsford defense here.

Sac & Fox 14th Annual Native Nations Law Symposium

Kate Fort3 Comments

Here.

The Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska is proud to present the 14th annual Native Nations Law Symposium. The Symposium seeks to promote relations and education of important legal topics among all legal professionals both Tribal and State. Please see attached document for a copy of the tentative schedule (speakers may be subject to change).

Assistant Prosecutor Position at Ak-Chin Indian Community

Kate Fort

Assistant Prosecutor

Unpublished California ICWA Notice Case and the Passive Voice

Kate Fort

Opinion here. Court reversed termination and remanded for notice to Navajo Nation.

Classic example of the passive voice here:

The responsibility for compliance with ICWA falls squarely and affirmatively on the court and the Department. (Welf. & Inst.Code, § 224.3, subd. (a); In re Antoinette S. (2002) 104 Cal.App.4th 1401, 1409.)3 Both Robert and the paternal grandmother stated that there was native American heritage in the family. As early as the detention hearing, the juvenile court ordered the Department to make the necessary inquiries and send the required notices. Thereafter, as everyone acknowledges, the ball was dropped.

Unpublished California Notice Case Cites 2015 BIA Guidelines

Kate Fort3 Comments

Court reversed and remanded for ICWA notice compliance. Opinion here.

The recently updated “Guidelines for State Courts and Agencies in Indian Child Custody Proceedings” (Guidelines) provide that tribes have the sole jurisdiction and authority to determine whether a child is eligible for membership. (Guidelines, 80 Fed. Reg. 10146-02 (Feb. 25, 2015), § B.3(b) & (c), p. 10153.) Tribes that are not notified of dependency proceedings cannot assert their rights under ICWA. (In re Marinna J. (2001) 90 Cal.App.4th 731, 739.) “Under these circumstances, it would be contrary to the terms of the Act to conclude . . . that parental inaction could excuse the failure of the juvenile court to ensure that notice under the Act was provided to the Indian tribe named in the proceeding.” (Ibid.) Thus, parents in a dependency proceeding are permitted to raise ICWA notice issues on appeal even where no mention was made of the issue in the juvenile court. (In re Alice M. (2008) 161 Cal.App.4th 1189, 1195.) Accordingly, we reject the Agency’s assertion that Mother forfeited any ICWA issue when she failed to object to the juvenile court’s ICWA finding.