Here is the brief filed in Alaska v. Jewell:
Here are the cert petitions:
Alaska Federation of Natives
Alaska Native Subsistence Act Proposes Co-Management Structure That Includes Tribal Leaders to Replace Current Federal/State Management Structure
The Alaska Native Subsistence Co-Management Demonstration Act of 2014 proposes a new co-management structure in the Ahtna region. The new structure would include tribal officials in the management of the land and resources, replacing the current dual federal and state management structure.
The House Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs will hold a hearing on the Act March 14, 2014, 11:00 am (EST). The hearing will be available online here.
AFN has released an overview video to explain some of the complexities of protecting subsistence rights and the strength of co-management here.
Ahtna, Inc. has also released a video here.
Article here.
BLT: Experts Debate Effects of Voting Rights Act Case on Indian Voting Rights
Here.
Excerpt:
During a February 22 media conference call with legal experts, Laughlin McDonald, director of the ACLU Voting Rights Project, said he thinks it is the Supreme Court’s duty to reject the challenge of constitutionality of Section 5. “The Section 5 objections enforcement actions…show that the extension of Section 5 in 2006 was more than justified,” McDonald said. In his report, “Voting Rights in Indian Country,” McDonald lays out several discriminatory decisions, such as redistricting in South Dakota, which diluted the Indian vote.
However, Section 5 is not permanent and jurisdictions may terminate or “bail out” from coverage if they have not discriminated for at least 10 years. Nine states are currently covered as a whole: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.
According to Patricia Ferguson-Bohnee, law professor at Arizona State University and author of an amicus brief filed by the Navajo Nation, Section 5 has improved American Indian’s voting rights in Arizona. However, she said, voters are still facing challenges, such as distant poll locations, linguistic barriers, and restrictive ID requirements.
James Tucker, a voting rights of counsel with Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker and a primary author of the amicus brief filed by the Alaska Federation of Natives, said Section 5 remains an appropriate measure to prevent the ongoing voting discrimination against Alaska Natives. Section 203 of the Act requires that minorities in certain designated jurisdictions are to be given assistance in voting in their native language.
Obama Administration to do Major Review of Alaska Subistence Rules
From the Anchorage Daily News:
The Obama administration is launching a rapid, sweeping review of the way the federal government manages subsistence hunting and fishing in Alaska, Interior Department officials said Friday.
“The system, frankly, today is broken,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced in a video shown at the annual Alaska Federation of Natives convention in downtown Anchorage.
Subsistence rights — the battle over who gets the first opportunity to hunt and fish on state or federal land — is a headline issue at this year’s convention. For decades, the debate has pitted rural Alaskans and Alaska Natives, who say they hunt and fish to survive, against sports groups and urban hunters and fishermen, who argue everyone should have equal access to fish and game.
Turtle Talk 