Here are the new materials in Oglala Sioux Tribe v. Van Hunnik (D.S.D.):
128 Defendants Response to 1922 Motion
129 Defendants Response to Due Process Motion
The motions for summary judgment are here.
The evidentiary exhibits are here.
The DOJ amicus brief is here.
The United States came in strongly on the side of the tribes and tribal families for both the enforcement of ICWA and meaningful due process.
Here.
Thus, from the very start of an emergency removal, Section 1922 requires state courts, agencies, and officials to actively investigate and evaluate whether the emergency situation has ended. Given the statutory requirements for oversight and “immediate” action, this ongoing obligation cannot be deferred for weeks or months until the next scheduled hearing occurs.
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The interest that parents have in the custody of their children is not to be lightly interfered with, even following an emergency situation. While an emergency proceeding such as the 48- hour hearing may not permanently deprive parents of their custody rights, even a temporary deprivation of physical custody requires a prompt and meaningful hearing.
Memorandum in support of leave to file amicus here.
Motion for Leave to File here.
Update — The court granted the motion the next day:
123 DCT Order Granting US Motion
Previous coverage here.
Here, from NICWA, NCAI, NARF, and AAIA:
The undersigned American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) organizations request that the Civil
Rights Division of the Department of Justice commences a prompt investigation into the unlawful treatment of
AI/AN children in the private adoption and public child welfare systems throughout the United States.***
Yet, despite all the protections provided by ICWA, each year thousands of parents, grandparents, aunties,
uncles, and child advocates reach out to the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) desperate for
help. Their rights under ICWA and the Constitution continue to be violated by state child welfare and private
adoption systems. NICWA frequently hears stories of adoption agencies ignoring the tribal membership of
children, of state attorneys failing to provide notice to a tribe when a child is taken into custody, of child
welfare workers sometimes knowingly placing children outside ICWA’s placement preferences, and of judges
denying tribal representatives a presence in the court room. NICWA also often hears stories of Guardians ad
Litem scoffing at the importance of Native culture, state workers demeaning AI/AN parents and traditional
ways of parenting, and attorneys using professional networks to encourage other attorneys to purposefully
circumvent the “ridiculous” or “unnecessary” adoption requirements of ICWA.
Here is the information:
Department of Justice
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) announced today that four tribes in Nebraska, New Mexico, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota will be awarded cooperative agreements to cross-designate tribal prosecutors to pursue violence against women cases in both tribal and federal courts.
The goal of the Tribal Special U.S. Attorney (SAUSA) program is to train eligible tribal prosecutors in federal law, procedure and investigative techniques to increase the likelihood that every viable criminal offense is prosecuted in tribal court, federal court or both. The program enables tribal prosecutors to bring violence against women cases in federal court and to serve as co-counsel with federal prosecutors on felony investigations and prosecutions of offenses arising out of their respective tribal communities.
“We know that violence against Native women has reached epidemic proportions,” said OVW Director Bea Hanson. “Restoring safety for Native women requires the type of sustained cooperation between the federal and tribal justice systems that we see in the jurisdictions participating in our Tribal SAUSA project.”
Through this special initiative, OVW will support salary, travel and training costs of four tribal SAUSAs, who will work in collaboration with the U.S. Attorneys Offices in the Districts of Nebraska, New Mexico, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. Specifically, OVW will award cooperative agreements to four federally recognized tribes to select qualified applicants in cooperation with the U.S. Attorney Offices to serve as cross-designated prosecutors. These prosecutors will maintain an active violence against women crimes caseload, in tribal and/or federal court, while also helping to promote higher quality investigations, improved training and better inter-governmental communication.
Tailored to meet the particular needs of the participating jurisdiction, these pilot programs are designed to improve the quality of cases, the coordination of resources and the communication of priorities both within and between the various law enforcement agencies working in this area.
The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project was largely driven by input gathered from the Justice Department’s 2009 Tribal Nation Listening Session on Public Safety and Law Enforcement, and its annual tribal consultation on violence against women. The Tribal SAUSA initiative is another step in the Justice Department’s on-going efforts to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities, and represents a partnership between OVW, the Executive Office of US Attorney’s and the US Attorney’s Offices in Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota.
The recipients of these awards are:
Information here (pdf).
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is pleased to announce that it is seeking applications to support training and technical assistance that will assist Indian tribes through tribal, federal, or local law enforcement in identifying and rescuing victims of human trafficking within tribal communities or native villages. This program furthers the Department’s mission by enhancing Indian tribes’ response, through tribal law enforcement, to human trafficking victims of tribal communities or native villages.
TRIBAL JUSTICE NEWS
Nov. 14 – 18, 2011
Contact: Wyn Hornbuckle, Office of Public Affairs (202) 514-2007
***
INDIAN COUNTRY PUBLIC SAFETY INITIATIVES
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District Of Montana Announces The Creation Of The “Native Shield Initiative”
U.S. Attorney Michael W. Cotter announced today the creation of a new initiative, the Native Shield Initiative, in partnership with county and tribal authorities in Montana. The initiative is designed to help protect Indian women from physical and sexual violence. The new Initiative encourages the U.S. Attorney’s Office to focus on existing federal statutes that give the federal government jurisdiction to prosecute misdemeanor domestic assaults committed by a non-Indian perpetrator against an Indian victim. The Initiative also promotes prosecutions of habitual domestic violent offenders under 18 U.S.C. § 117. In support of the Native Shield Initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has committed to providing the following to its tribal and county law enforcement partners: training on how to submit misdemeanor domestic violence cases directly to the U.S. Attorney’s Office; training in the investigation and prosecution of crimes against women; and training on the resources available for those entities, including potentially entering into collaborative agreements with tribal and county law enforcement.
For more information: www.justice.gov/usao/mt/
Description here.
Here.
An excerpt:
Lorena Halwood, who works with domestic violence victims on the Navajo Nation, said family abuse violates not only the law but the traditional Navajo way of life, which preaches harmony and talking with one another to mitigate problems. She stood with others in the Navajo Nation’s capital this week, asking tribal lawmakers to support legislation that would specifically criminalize domestic violence for the first time on the reservation.
“A lot of the victims have come to accept there’s nothing anybody can do,” she said.
Halwood’s work with domestic violence spans 16 years, creating a network of safe houses for victims awaiting transport to one of two shelters on the 27,000-square-mile reservation, the size of West Virginia. She’s seen broken jaws and noses, sexual assault and rape cases, and has made 2 a.m. visits to the emergency room.
Tribal police often are late in arriving to the scene because of the remoteness of the reservation. Halwood said women’s in-laws often blame them for the abuse, and women find it difficult to leave without transportation or a support system.
She welcomed any change that would make offenders realize they’re not getting off with what she says commonly is a slap on the wrist and a warning not to hit a woman again.
“If we have harsher penalties, stiffer sentences, then maybe they’ll see `I’m not supposed to be doing this. The next time I might spend more time in jail away from my family, my children,'” she said.
From PR Newswire (with additional local coverage):
WASHINGTON, May 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Attorney General Eric Holder today announced the allocation of 33 new Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) positions to 21 judicial districts that contain Indian Country. The department has also launched three Indian Country Community Prosecution Teams. These new resources will enable the Justice Department to work with tribal and state law enforcement partners to improve public safety in tribal communities.
“Violent crimes, and particularly crimes against women and girls, continue to devastate tribal communities across the country, and the U.S. Attorney community is crucial to the Department of Justice’s response,” Attorney General Holder said. “With 33 more federal prosecutors headed to Indian Country, and the launch of three new Community Prosecution Pilot Projects, we have made significant progress finding and implementing solutions to the public safety challenges confronting tribal communities. This Administration is committed to reducing the level of violent crime in tribal communities.”
The new AUSA allocation is the result of $6 million provided in the department’s FY2010 budget for the hiring of prosecutors in Indian Country. Districts were asked to submit requests for additional prosecutors, which were reviewed with relevant statistical data by a team of U.S. Attorneys and staff from the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys. Thirty AUSAs will be distributed to districts as follows:
Turtle Talk 
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