Turtle Talk

Tenth Circuit Briefs in Pueblo of Pojoaque v. State of New Mexico

January 6, 2016February 4, 2016Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here:

New Mexico Appellant Brief

Pojoaque Brief

Other briefs TK.

Lower court materials here.

Navajo Sues Interior over Tribal Court Funding

January 6, 2016Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the complaint in Navajo Nation v. Dept. of Interior (D. D.C.):

1 Complaint

Indigenous Summer Intensive

January 6, 2016Sarah M Donnelly

This May, the University of Victoria Law School is running a month-long Summer Intensive in Indigenous Law and Comparative Indigenous Legal Issues. Both Val Napoleon and John Borrows are teaching.

They accept other law professors, for-credit students, as well as students/lawyers who may want to audit the courses.

There are different application deadlines for credit vs. non-credit students. Here is the information:

http://www.uvic.ca/law/about/indigenous/indigenoussummerintensive.php

Here is an example of work from the Indigenous Law Research Unit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uNgq7raxk4

Please feel free to write Val Napoleon, John Borrows, or Janet Person, the admissions officer, if you have any questions (1-250-721-8155).

Active Efforts and Burden of Proof ICWA Case out of NM Court of Appeals

January 5, 2016May 23, 2016Kate Fort2 Comments

Here.

The court held that the burden for active efforts is clear and convincing evidence. In addition, that active efforts consists of more than reasonable efforts, citing to the 2015 Guidelines and other state court decisions. In this case, the court held there was not clear and convincing evidence that the state provided active efforts:

The testimony at the TPR demonstrates that the Department took the affirmative steps of meeting with Father to create a treatment plan, and referring Father to a parenting class. It appears the Department pointed Father in the direction of service providers, but did little else to assist Father in implementing the treatment plan. Father was not offered services aside from the one parenting class. The Department took a passive role by shouldering Father with the burden of not only independently locating and obtaining services, but also ensuring the service providers were communicating with the Department about his progress.

Sixth Circuit Rules in Favor of Little River Band in Kelsey v. Pope

January 5, 2016January 5, 2016Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the opinion in Kelsey v. Pope:

59-2 Opinion

59-3 Judgment

Briefs here.

California ICWA Task Force Information and Survey

January 5, 2016Kate Fort

Recently the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Children’s Justice, established an ICWA compliance task force with a goal of examining ICWA non-compliance in California. In support of this effort tribal leaders have come together to provide information to assist the California DOJ in looking at ICWA compliance issues, including cases involving non-California tribes. This project is an opportunity for all tribes to provide feedback on these important issues.

Letter to tribal leaders from task force co-chairs.

Letter to tribal leaders from California AG.

There is both a call (details in first letter) and a survey is for any tribe with children in the California system, not just California tribes. Survey is here and is due by January 15.

Questions can be directed to Delia Parr at CILS, CALINDIAN@calindian.org