Author: Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Opinion Piece on Black Freedmen Descendants of the Five Civilized Tribes

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is “Black Lives Matter for Freedmen Descendants of the Five Civilized Tribes.”

Kirsten Carlson Commentary on McGirt v. Oklahoma

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is “Supreme Court upholds American Indian treaty promises, orders Oklahoma to follow federal law,” in The Conversation.

Other commentaries —

Bob Miller on VOA.

Ronald Mann on SCOTUSblog.

Ian Millhiser on VOX.

Atlantic Piece on How Union Monuments in the West Celebrate the Killing of Indian People

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is “Americans Need to Know the Hard Truth About Union Monuments in the West — During the Civil War, Union soldiers in the West weren’t fighting to end slavery, but to annihilate and remove Native Americans.”

Bloomberg: “Supreme Court Tribal Treaty Decision Praised as Game Changer”

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

SCOTUS Remands Four Okla. Criminal Cases, Grants Cert in Financial Services Cases Involving Tribal Businesses

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is today’s order list.

The Court granted review in AMG Capital Management LLC v. Federal Trade Commission. Here is the Ninth Circuit’s opinion in FTC v. AMG Capital Management LLC. District court materials here.

NYTs: “Supreme Court Rules Nearly Half of Oklahoma Is Indian Reservation”

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

A wildly overblown headline, but here you go anyway.

Here’s another one, from CNBC: “Supreme Court says eastern half of Oklahoma is Native American land.”

And WSJ: “American Indian Lands Include Eastern Oklahoma, Supreme Court Rules.”

And NPR gets in on the action: “Supreme Court Rules That About Half Of Oklahoma Is Native American Land.”

SCOTUS Holds Creek Reservation is Indian Country

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion:

McGirt Opinion

Briefs here.

In a separate order, the Court affirmed Sharp v. Murphy:

Murphy Order

Federal Court Dismisses Action Arising Out of County Seizure of Tribally-Owned Industrial Hemp

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Free Spirit Organics NAC v. San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors (E.D. Cal.):

35 Second Amended Complaint

37 Motion to Dismiss

58 Individual Plaintiffs Opposition

59 Free Spirit Opposition

94 Defendants Post-Hearing Brief

95 Free Spirit Post-Hearing Brief

99 DCT Order

Fletcher: “How the ‘only family’ argument is used against Indigenous families”

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

In High Country News, here.

Excerpt:

There’s a powerful dog whistle attacking American Indian families and tribes who assert their rights to keep Native children with Native families under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). Increasingly, foster and adoptive parents are fighting those families and tribes who seek to reunite with their children by claiming to be “the only family the child has ever known.” It was the racism in the child welfare system against Indian families that initially compelled Congress to establish ICWA in 1978. Now, as America continues to grapple with its racist history and systems of white supremacy, it’s time for courts to see through racist dog whistles and prioritize families of color.

Ninth Circuit Decides Crow Indian Tribe v. United States [Grizzly Bear Delisting]

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion. The court affirmed the district court’s order to remand the decision back to Fish and Wildlife Service.

Here are the briefs.