Supreme Court – Page 44

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, issued the following statement expressing his deep concerns about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s views on Indian law and policy:

“Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings have only reinforced my serious concern that his confirmation poses a real threat to bedrock federal Indian law and policy principles that have guided the high court for decades. Judge Kavanaugh has shown in his writings, opinions, and emails that he is a jurist who would call into question the basic principles of Indian law and fails to appreciate the rights of indigenous people in the United States.

“From the documents I have reviewed so far, and based on information revealed during the hearings, I am convinced that Judge Kavanaugh is no friend to Indian Country. He openly characterized federal protections for Native Hawaiians as unconstitutional, and argued that ‘any racial group with creative reasoning can qualify as an Indian tribe.’ He even questioned the constitutionality of programs dedicated specifically to Native Americans, a view that could upend decades of progress for Indian Country on everything from housing to government contracting. And considering the sheer number of documents that are still being shielded from public and Senate view, we may have only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Judge Kavanaugh’s willful misunderstanding of the rights held by Native communities, including Alaska Native Villages.

“As vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, I support the exercise of Tribal sovereignty and work to ensure that the United States upholds its trust responsibility to Indian Tribes, Alaska Native Villages, Native Hawaiians and all Native communities throughout the country. And as a United States Senator, it is my constitutional duty to provide advice and consent for judicial nominations to the Supreme Court. I will vote no on Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the United States Supreme Court, for a variety of reasons. But Judge Kavanaugh’s dismissive, and often outright hostile, view of the federal trust relationship runs contrary to 200 years of Supreme Court precedent and deserves special attention. His confirmation risks unwinding decades of progress for all of Indian Country, from New Mexico, to Alaska and Hawaii, and would lend credibility to unfounded attacks on federal programs that serve all Native communities.

“I believe Judge Kavanaugh poses a serious threat to the rights of Native communities across this nation. I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who are committed to upholding our trust responsibilities to carefully scrutinize Judge Kavanaugh’s troubling record as they consider whether they can support his confirmation.”

The Onion: “Kavanaugh Surprised Senate Not Questioning Fact He Never Went To Law School”

September 8, 2018Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Udall Requests Kavanaugh Records on Native American Issues

August 15, 2018August 15, 2018Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the press release:

Udall Requests Kavanaugh Records on Native American Issues

Seeks all records pertaining to Kavanaugh’s involvement with Native American issues during tenure as Staff Secretary and White House Counsel

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.), vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, formally requested all records pertaining to Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s involvement with Native American issues during his tenure as White House Staff Secretary and as White House Counsel.

In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Udall asked Grassley to turn over all records under his control pertaining to Kavanaugh’s work on Indian Affairs issues. Udall also asked that Grassley request all records from the National Archives regarding Kavanaugh’s time as Staff Secretary and White House Counsel related to Native American matters.

“Decisions made by the Supreme Court have a significant impact on nearly all aspects of the everyday lives of Native Americans,” Udall wrote. “In the past few years alone, the Supreme Court has ruled on cases that further defined the contours of the United States’ government-to-government relationship with Indian Tribes, including: the extent to which an Indian Tribe’s treaty with the United States protects its subsistence practices from state intrusion; the scope of an Indian Tribe’s sovereign immunity; and the scope and extent of a Tribal member’s parental rights over a Native American child.”

“The Supreme Court’s influence is particularly acute in Indian Country, given the United States’ treaty and trust responsibility,” Udall continued. “So that members of this Committee—and the entire Senate—may adequately consider Judge Kavanaugh’s views on Indian Affairs issues, I respectfully request that you make available to me and my staff all records that pertain to Judge Kavanaugh’s involvement with Native American affairs while serving at the White House as Staff Secretary and as White House Counsel.”

The full text of the letter is available here.

Background Materials in Washington State Department of Licensing v. Cougar Den, Inc.

August 15, 2018October 23, 2018Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Supreme Court

–Merits Stage

Sacred Ground Legal Services Amicus Brief

Yakama Nation Amicus Brief

Nez Perce Tribe Amicus Brief

–Cert Stage

supplemental brief for respondent in response to brief of us solicitor general

Washington Supreme Court

Here is the opinion in Cougar Den Inc. v. Washington State Dept. of Licensing.

Briefs:

92289-6 Appellant’s Opening Brief

92289-6 Appellant’s Reply

92289-6 Appellant’s Response to Amicus Brief

92289-6 Respondent’s Brief

92289-6 Yakama Nation Amicus Brief

New Scholarship on Tribal Jurisdiction to Protect Native Women and Children

August 15, 2018Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Sarah Deer & Mary Kathryn Nagle have published Return to Worcester:  Dollar General and the Restoration of Tribal Jurisdiction to Protect Native Women and Children in the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender.

An excerpt:

The Supreme Court’s recent 4-4 tie-vote in Dollar General Corp. v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians signals a distinctive shift away from the incoherent modern framework created by Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe—a framework that stripped Tribal Nations of their inherent authority to protect Native women from non-Indian perpetrated violence. With four Justices voting for—and not against—tribal jurisdiction, Dollar General signals a return to the Court’s 1832 decision in Worcester v. Georgia, wherein the Court affirmed the exclusive authority of Tribal Nations to exercise criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians who willingly enter tribal lands. For Native women—and the Tribal Nations that seek to protect them—the Court’s 2016 result in Dollar General signals a significant victory.