Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Sues Interior over Bureau of Indian Education Reorganization

Here is the complaint in Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe v. Jewell (D. S.D.):

1 Complaint

An excerpt:

Plaintiff, an Indian Tribe operating under grants from or contracts with the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (Public Laws 93-638 and 100-297, as amended), and upon whose reservation the Defendant directly operates a BIE-run school, seeks a permanent injunction pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. Rule 65, a Writ of Mandamus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1361 and 1362, and Declaratory Relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2201 et seq., and an Order to enforce compliance with the terms of the Settlement Agreement and Stipulated Final Judgment entered by this Court in Yankton Sioux Tribe, et al. v. Kempthorne, et al, #4:06-cv-04091-KES (DSD) to enjoin Defendants from proceeding with their announced plan to restructure the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Education (hereinafter “BIE”), and its subsidiary offices and staff in a manner that will reduce and/or eliminate its legal obligations to Indian Tribes, Tribal Schools, and ultimately to the individual Tribal member students of those schools, including the Plaintiff, under the United States Constitution, treaties with the various Indian tribes, federal statutes, regulations, or policies, in a manner that is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion given to the Executive Branch to carry out the United States Congress’ legislative mandates, and/or violation of federal law or regulation.

Yurok Tribe Now Accepting Law Clerk Applications for Spring and Summer 2016

A complete description and application instructions here.

Oklahoma Bar’s Indian Law Section CLE Event

Oklahoma City University School of Law is hosting a full day CLE event on the legal power of Indian Tribes.

Announcement (PDF) here.

Protest Planned for CERA Event in Montana

Link to response from Native educators here.

Link to protest announcement here.

Citizens Equal Rights Alliance is holding a regional conference in Kalispell, Montana, on September 26, 2015, to kindle local antagonism towards the Federal Government and Tribes.  Speakers include the attorney for two politicians who are suing the federal government for transfer of the, now named, Salish Kootenai Dam to the Tribes.  Protesters will meet at the Red Lion Hotel in Kalispell at 1PM.

Change

 

 

Reminder: Apply to Clerk at NARF by September 25, 2015

Founded in 1970, the Native American Rights Fund (“NARF”) is the oldest and largest nonprofit law firm dedicated to asserting and defending the rights of Indian tribes, organizations, and individuals nationwide. NARF’s practice is concentrated in five key areas: the preservation of tribal existence; the protection of tribal natural resources; the promotion of Native American human rights; the accountability of governments to Native Americans; and the development of Indian law and educating the public about Indian rights, laws, and issues.

Summer Clerkships
NARF is currently seeking candidates for its Summer 2016 Clerkships! Each year, NARF conducts a nation-wide search for law students to participate in its Law Clerk Program. Positions are available in all three of NARF’s offices: Anchorage, AK; Boulder, CO; and Washington, D.C.

Here is the advertisement. The deadline to apply is September 25, 2015.

Save the Date: Apply to Clerk at NARF by September 25, 2015

Founded in 1970, the Native American Rights Fund (“NARF”) is the oldest and largest nonprofit law firm dedicated to asserting and defending the rights of Indian tribes, organizations, and individuals nationwide. NARF’s practice is concentrated in five key areas: the preservation of tribal existence; the protection of tribal natural resources; the promotion of Native American human rights; the accountability of governments to Native Americans; and the development of Indian law and educating the public about Indian rights, laws, and issues.

Summer Clerkships
NARF is currently seeking candidates for its Summer 2016 Clerkships! Each year, NARF conducts a nation-wide search for law students to participate in its Law Clerk Program. Positions are available in all three of NARF’s offices: Anchorage, AK; Boulder, CO; and Washington, D.C.

Here is the advertisement. The deadline to apply is September 25, 2015.

Law School Clinical Assistance Webinar on VAWA Enhanced Jurisdiction

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.

NPR on the Restoration of the Phoenix Indian School

Here is “Phoenix Students Restore School To Reclaim Native American Identity.”

ICT Profile on PLSI ’05 Alum Matt Campbell

Here is “Matt Campbell Works the Dream Job at NARF.”

An excerot:

In 2005, he received a flyer for the Pre-Law Summer Institute for American Indians and Alaska Natives, offered at the American Indian Law Center (AILC) in Albuquerque. He called the AILC yet was told the deadline had passed. “They asked me to send my application anyway, and I got in,” he said.

Campbell describes the two-month program, which replicates the first year of law school, as “intense,” and it attracts recruiters from law schools all over the country. Not only did he do well, but he was also wooed by recruiters from three different law schools. Campbell ended up enrolling at Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University in Tempe. In addition to his J.D., obtained in spring 2008, he holds an Indian Legal Certificate, with an environmental emphasis.

Continue reading

Students of Color (incl. Natives) Denied Intervention in Anti-Affirmative Action Suit Targeting Harvard

Here are the materials in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (D. Mass.):

31 Motion to Intervene

37 Opposition

38 Harvard Response

42 Reply

52 DCT Order on Intervention