Here are the new materials in Comenout v. Pierce County Superior Court (W.D. Wash.):
Tag for prior posts here.
Zinke’s “Be Nice” Moment is a Highly Gendered Response
Here is “Linguist Robin Lakoff on Women, Men and American Talk — Are women bound by a culture of niceness?”, from Moyers, focusing on Secretary Zinke’s aggressive effort to shut down questions from Cassandra Begay.
Video here:
Longer video here: Continue reading
NYTs: “Battle Over Bears Ears Heats Up as Trump Rethinks Its Monument Status”
Here.
Sunday NYTs on Bears Ears National Monument
The Guardian: “New Mexico’s tribal groups gear up to fight for their home”
Here.
Trump Administration Moves Forward on Pebble Mine in Alaska, Which is Horrible
Here.
NARF Press Release on Presidential Commission on Voter Suppression
Here:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 12, 2017
Contacts: Natalie Landreth, NARF Staff Attorney, (907) 276-0680; Matt Campbell, NARF Staff Attorney, (303) 447-8760
President Announces Commission to Investigate American Voters
Yesterday, the President announced the creation of the “Presidential Commission on Election Integrity,” a new body intended to investigate American voters for “improper” or “fraudulent” voting. This is not only an unprecedented attack on the American electorate, it is also completely misleading because there is virtually no voter fraud anywhere in the United States. Instead, the problems experienced by American voters are long lines, lack of polling places, lack of early voting opportunities, gerrymandered districts, and jurisdictions’ failure to follow voting laws such the Motor Voter bill and the language assistance provisions of the Voting Rights Act. These problems are actually increasing in American elections, in large part due to the activities of people newly appointed to the Commission. Prominent advocates of voter suppression such as Kris Kobach sit on this Commission.
“This Commission is completely backwards; it is not the American people who need to be investigated, it is the jurisdictions using more suppressive tactics to keep citizens from voting,” said Natalie Landreth staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund and voting rights litigator. “Voter suppression is designed by those in power to keep themselves in power. They know as the electorate changes, their power wanes so these tactics are meant to ‘freeze the electorate’ in a way.”
The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) has litigated voting cases on behalf of American Indians and Alaska Natives since the 1980s, and it currently leads the Native American Voting Rights Coalition, a group of voting rights advocates who work in Indian Country across the United States. In this capacity, NARF encounters a wide variety of problems faced by American Indian and Alaska Native voters. These problems are many and widespread, but do not include voter fraud.
“North Dakota is a great example of how this narrative works,” said Staff Attorney Matt Campbell, who currently represents the plaintiffs in Brakebill v. Jaeger. “The state passed the strictest voter identification law in the country on the basis that they wanted to prevent voter fraud, but over the course of the case the state admitted there had never been a single case of fraud in North Dakota. It’s a myth, one designed to keep Native Americans and the elderly from voting.”
“It is ironic that this President purports to investigate election integrity since it is now known that he very likely benefitted from Russian interference in the November 2016 election,” said Landreth. “That is what needs to be investigated, not the American voters. And I want to be very clear about why the President is doing this: he is purporting to create a record that will surely form the basis for nationwide legislation to further suppress voting.”
Updated Standing Rock/NoDAPL Pleadings (March 21-May 11) [Update: thru May 17]
Here are updated pleadings in Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. United States Army Corps of Engineers (D.D.C.):
194 DAPL Reply re Vance Resp to Ct Order
195 SRST Opp to ACOE & DAPL Mtns for Partial Sum Judg
198 Consol Reply to Motion to Amend Complaint
198 CRST Motion to Extend Time
200 SRST Reply to Motion to Amend Complaint
201 ACOE Reply in Support of Mtn Partial Summ Judg re SRST
203 DAPL Reply in Support of ACOE Cross-Mtn for Partial Summ Judgment
205 Opinion re DAPL Mtn for Protective Order
205 Order re DAPL Mtn for Protective Order
207 CRST Reply in Support of MPSJ & Opp Cross-Mtns
208 CRST Reply in Supp of MPSJ & Opp Cross-Mtns209 Joint Appendix
213 DAPL Reply in Support of Mtn for Partial Summary Judgment
216-1 DAPL Memorandum in Support of Motion to Compel
219 SRST Response to Motion to Compel
220 Intervenor Motion to Supplement the Record
221 Notice of Addition of Documents to the Record
222 Oglala Opp to Mtn to Compel
223 ACOE Resp to Mtn to Compel
224 ACOE Motion to Extend Time
225 DAPL Reply in Support of Motion to Compel
226 DAPL Unopp Mtn to Intervene
Guest Post — Jay Rosner — Response to Kevin Washburn
This is the third in a series of posts:
(1) Guest Post — Jay Rosner: The LSAT vs. the GRE: May They Both Lose
(2) Guest Post — Kevin Washburn: The LSAT’s Key Role in Native Legal Education
I’m honored that Prof. Kevin Washburn took the time to respond to a Turtle Talk post of mine. I had deeply criticized both the LSAT and GRE, but I expressed the hope that the movement to accept both in law school admissions will subject both to the kind of scrutiny, particularly on their disparate impacts, that will be more difficult for them both to withstand.
Prof. Washburn’s post, entitled “The LSAT’s Key Role in Native Legal Education,” emphasized that “… if the LSAT lost its leading role in legal education … it could be bad. Very bad.” He then tells the uplifting story of PLSI, which has an admirable record helping 25-35 Native students each year, for decades, succeed in law school by providing them with excellent summer instruction, stipends and role models, among other supports. He clearly is a proud alumnus of that program.
Prof. Washburn’s primary defense of the LSAT is that its developer, LSAC, has played a major role in funding PLSI over the years. LSAC is to be commended for that; however, I submit that for those of us advocating fair representation in the legal profession, LSAC’s only positive attribute is its support for PLSI. Continue reading
Friday Job Announcements
Job vacancies are posted on Friday. Some announcements might still appear throughout the week. If you would like your Indian law job posted on Turtle Talk, please email indigenous@law.msu.edu.
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Congressional Advocate on Native American Policy, Washington, D.C. This is a 27-month professional fellowship that begins in October 2017. Application deadline is June 1, 2017.
Open Society Foundations
Leadership in Government Fellowship. Founded to support former senior-level government staff in the United States and its territories who have recently left public service and have played a significant role in advancing social change from within government in the United States and its territories at the local, state, or federal levels.
Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians
Summer Law Clerks, Harbor Springs, MI. LTBB Tribal Court is seeking two unpaid summer law clerks funded through your school or other external sources. Harbor Springs is a resort community on the beautiful waters of Lake Michigan. The Tribal Court is a court of general jurisdiction hearing cases including, but not limited to: criminal, civil, drug court, domestic violence, eviction and children’s cases. The Tribal Court is looking for applications from students interested in working on a huge variety of legal issues. No prior Indian law classes are required, but a genuine interest in Indian law and strong legal research and writing skills are necessary. The following are examples of projects and work to be done by LTBB’s summer clerks:
-Participating on the Drug Court Team,
-Researching Domestic Violence programs that can be integrated into the Tribal Court;
-Research and writing for the Tribal Court;
-Research and writing for the Appellate Court;
-Reviewing novel procedural and constitutional issues;
-Assessing, reviewing, and writing Court Rules and Procedures;
-Working with other units of Tribal Government;
-Working with the Court on establishing special protocol for juvenile cases;
-Working on Indian Child Welfare matters and cases.
Due to the significant cultural events and activities occurring on the reservation the Tribal Court allows time for and encourages our summer clerks to be involved in Tribal functions, events, and activities, as well as activities in the outlying community. Our clerks attend sacred fires and feasts, learn how to cut sweet grass and birch bark and participate in a variety of traditional activities. We assist students in locating appropriate and affordable summer housing. We are a family-friendly employer. Please email cover letters and resumes to Yvonne Brown at ybrown@ltbbodawa-nsn.gov and state your GPA in your cover letter. We will request transcripts and writing samples for people we are interested in interviewing.
Rothstein Law Firm
Indian Law Associate, Tempe, AZ. Rothstein Donatelli is accepting applications for an Indian law associate position in its Tempe, Arizona office. The position is for an attorney with a minimum of 2 years of Indian law or general legal experience. Candidates should possess excellent oral and written communication skills. Rothstein Donatelli, with offices in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, NM and Tempe, AZ, focuses its practice on federal Indian law, civil rights, white collar criminal defense, and personal injury. Rothstein Donatelli is committed to advancing the sovereign rights of Native American tribes. Please send a cover letter, resume, writing samples and three professional references to Joseph Meserve, Executive Director, P.O. Box 8180, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87504-8180. E-mail responses may be submitted to jmeserve@rothsteinlaw.com. http://www.rothsteinlaw.com
Ho-Chunk Nation
Legislative Attorney, Black River Falls, WI. Works directly with the Nation’s Legislature to assist in drafting tribal laws and resolutions, while also generally providing guidance and advice to the Legislature on issues of Ho-Chunk, Federal, and State law. This could cover a broad range of issues, including tax, finance, business, gaming, criminal law, jurisdiction, constitutional interpretation, litigation, family law, housing, real estate, employment, environmental, and leasing. Attorneys for the Nation may also be called upon to advocate for the Nation in judicial, administrative, or political settings. This position may require some travel as well. The tribe is organized under a Constitution that includes four Branches of government, including the General Council, Legislature, President and Judiciary. The Legislature’s legal needs are served by the Legislative Counsel and three Legislative Attorneys (who are supervised by the Legislative Counsel).
The Legislature seeks a candidate with a law degree from an accredited law school, with zero to five years of experience, who is (or will become) a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin. The Ho-Chunk Nation provides a competitive salary with benefits. See attached job description. Interested persons can send a cover letter and resume to the following: Michael Murphy, Legislative Counsel, Ho-Chunk Nation, P.O. Box 667, Black River Falls, WI 54615.
National American Indian Housing Council
Deputy Director, Washington, D.C. This high-level position serves as a senior leader on organizational operations and reports directly to the Executive Director. The position directs all aspects of the organization’s administrative services and operations in support of NAIHC. This position supervises administrative personnel and coordinates departmental administrative personnel for general clerical, financial and administrative support activities; assures that good customer service is provided from support staff through proper training and mentoring; works closely with the Executive Director for planning, budgeting, member services, management and grant management. The Deputy Director is responsible for procurement and contracting services and for the development, implementation and monitoring of written policies governing NAIHC. The Deputy Director works closely with the Executive Director to ensure that the program, events and financial objectives of NAIHC’s strategic plan are met. This position provides support in the areas of grant writing, program compliance, statistical analysis, project/program development, technical assistance, and facilitates collection and analysis of membership data including periodic membership needs assessment.
Minimum candidate qualifications include: Bachelor’s degree in accounting, business or related field; Minimum of 7-10 years of progressively responsible experience in non-profits, including experience in non-profit finance, internal controls, policy, human resource management, program development, and event planning. Must possess excellent supervisory and planning skills; strong written and oral communication skills. Candidates should send their resume and cover letter to careers@naihc.net. Please place “Deputy Director” in the subject line. For more information on NAIHC visit http://www.naihc.net. Position will be open until filled.
Turtle Talk 
You must be logged in to post a comment.