Author: Sarah Donnelly

Nez Perce Tribal Prosecutor Position Announcement

Sarah M Donnelly1 Comment

Nez Perce Tribe seeks Tribal Prosecutor to:

  • Represent the Tribe in all criminal and juvenile cases before Nez Perce Tribal Court, reviewing reports and charging cases, drafting written complaints, motions, proposed orders, legal briefs, jury instructions, sentencing recommendations, and other legal documents.
  • Work closely with the Tribal Police Department, Conservation Enforcement, Social Services, Probation, Domestic Violence Programs, and other tribal agencies in filing and prosecuting their cases in Tribal Court.
  • Supervise an office assistant, deputy prosecutor, and Child Support Enforcement attorney.

Requires at least two years (five preferred) of successful experience as a prosecutor or criminal defense attorney, preferably in a tribal government setting. Please provide a legal writing sample with application, and resume listing at least three work-related references. Must include a completed NPT application (available on www.nezperce.org). Applicant must possess a valid driver’s license with the ability to be insured under the Tribe’s policy; applicants who are not Idaho residents must provide their own Motor Vehicle Report.

Salary approximately $75K+ DOE/DOQ and includes generous health insurance and other benefits.  Call (208) 843-7332 for assistance. Applications to be accepted until position is filled. Tribal preference applies.  Incomplete application packets will not be considered.

Mail to:
TRIBAL PROSECUTOR HR-15-180
PO Box 365
Lapwai ID 83540-0365

Deputy General Counsel Vacancy with the Hopi Tribe

Sarah M Donnelly1 Comment

Job announcement and description here.

Previous Hopi Tribe jobs posted here.

President’s Memo Outlines New Environmental Policy

Sarah M Donnelly

Link to Memorandum here.

The Obama Administration advised the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Defense, EPA, and NOAA to avoid harming the environment by ensuring, at minimum, a “no net loss goal” for natural resources deemed important, scarce, or sensitive.  The Departments will forgo development of resources deemed “irreplaceable.”

The new policy requires federal regulators to evaluate every proposed natural resource project from a large-scale context, including water-shed and landscape impacts.  Going forward, the government’s policy will be to protect the environment by foreseeing and mitigating any damage ahead of time.  The Departments have been given a time table for finalizing mitigation mechanisms and guidance.

This is the latest episode in a controversy over energy developments in Indian Country.  Republicans in Congress are attempting to enact a law that would speed up energy development on Tribal lands after a GAO report criticized the 2005 federal process for transferring management of energy development to Tribes that has not resulted in any agreements (TERAs).

Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Tribal Government Openings

Sarah M Donnelly

11/3/15 Legal secretary posting here.

10/27/15 Legislative coordinator posting (Revised) here.

 

Maniilaq Association Now Hiring Chief Financial Officer

Sarah M Donnelly

Job announcement here.

DOJ Sues S. Dakota DSS for Discrimination Against Tribal Job Applicants

Sarah M Donnelly

DOJ Press release here.

U.S. v. S.D. DSS Complaint here.

According to the complaint, in October 2010, Cedric Goodman, a Native American with supervisory experience as a social worker, as well as several other well-qualified Native Americans, applied for an Employment Specialist position at DSS’s Pine Ridge Office.  The complaint alleges that after interviewing Goodman and the other Native American candidates who met the employer’s objective job qualifications, DSS removed the vacancy and hired no one.  The next day, however, DSS reopened the position and ultimately selected a white applicant with inferior qualifications and no similar work experience.  The complaint alleges that DSS discriminated against Goodman and other similarly-situated Native American applicants based on their race.

In addition, the complaint alleges that denying Goodman’s application was part of a pattern or practice of race discrimination by DSS, where the agency repeatedly removed job postings and used subjective, arbitrary hiring practices to reject qualified Native American applicants for Specialist positions.

Over a two year period beginning in 2010, DSS posted 18 Specialist vacancies for its Pine Ridge Reservation Office.  Even though the agency received nearly 40 percent of its applications from Native Americans, DSS hired 11 Whites and only one Native American, while removing six other openings entirely.

Deputy AG Vacancy With Colorado River Indian Tribes

Sarah M Donnelly

Vacancy announcement here.

Department: Criminal Prosecution
Salary range: $65,000 to $75,000 depending on experience.
For more information/questions:

Rebecca A. Loudbear
Attorney General
Colorado River Indian Tribes
Email: rloudbear@critdoj.com
Phone: 928-669-1271

Senator Heitkamp (D-ND) Highlighting Native Youth on Instagram

Sarah M Donnelly

In support of S. 246, The Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act, Senator Heidi Heitkamp is highlighting Native youth from North Dakota on her Instagram account starting yesterday.  It will continue over the next few days.  There are a lot of challenges that Native kids face, but these profiles are meant to highlight kids who have overcome them using the hashtag #AgainstTheOdds.

ILJ Winter Call For Submissions – Deadline January 5, 2016

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ILJCFSVol15

NAICJA Board of Directors Unanimously Support AG and ILOC Reports

Sarah M Donnelly

Resolution No. 2015-01
Resolution No. 2015-02

The National American Indian Court Judges Association are supporting the Indian Law and Order Commission’s November 2013 report entitled “A Roadmap for Making Native America Safer,” which “advocates for tribal justice systems to have the ability to fully express their sovereignty by opting out of the current jurisdictional maze, and exercise criminal jurisdiction over all persons without any sentencing limitations, including juveniles.”  However, NAICJA prefers that all individuals charged with crimes under this enhanced tribal jurisdiction be provided with civil rights protections equivalent to those guaranteed by the Indian Civil Rights Act, instead of the U.S. Constitution.

NAICJA is also supporting the November 2014 report from the Attorney General’s advisory committee on American Indian/Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence entitled “Ending Violence So Children Can Thrive” which “calls for the restoration of the inherent sovereignty of tribes to assert full criminal jurisdiction over all persons who commit crimes against AI/AN children in Indian country.”