Links: Press Release, 60 Day Legal Notice(PDF)
Excerpt:
The 60-Day Notice of Intent to Sue under the Clean Water Act outlines violations of federal agency duties under the Act that will affect water quality of the Menominee River and adjacent wetlands, and downstream to Green Bay, as a result of the Back Forty Mine Project.
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.
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin
Prosecutor. Presents criminal cases in trials, renders legal advice and assistance to local law enforcement officials, and litigates cases before Tribal Court. Closes 10/16/17.
Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch, LLP
Associate Attorney, Native American Law, San Diego, C.A. Procopio is seeking an attorney with top academic credentials with a minimum of five years’ experience in Native American law. Experience specifically with Tribal governance, fee to trust, leasing, Tribal business, federal environmental law, NEPA, cultural resources, tribal healthcare and gaming law helpful. Successful candidates will have excellent writing and client relations skills. Must include experience in Tribal representation, with a strong understanding of Tribal sovereignty, Tribal codes and ordinance development, and Tribal businesses. Portable business helpful but not required. Major law firm experience, or significant in-house experience with tribal government preferred. Competitive salary and outstanding benefit package. TO APPLY: Please forward a brief cover email and resume to julia.lee@procopio.com.
Department of the Interior
Public Affairs Specialist, Office of the Secretary, Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations, Arlington, V.A. Will develop, execute, and evaluate a comprehensive communications program. The successful candidate will oversee day-to-day communications activities of the Buy-Back Program and will work in close collaboration with the Program Director, Deputy Program Director, and/or their supervisor on the development and implementation of strategic internal and external communications strategies and messaging. Same announcement for federal employees here.
San Manuel Band of Mission Indians
Chief Judge, Highland, C.A. Serves as the chief administrator of both the trial and appellate courts of the San Manuel Tribal Court System and as the Chief Judge of the trial court. The Chief Judge is responsible for assisting the Judiciary Committee, Business Committee and General Council with the continued development Tribal law and Tribal Court procedures.
Previous Friday Job Announcements: 9/29/17
The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin is a federally recognized tribe located in Keshena, Wisconsin.
The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Legal Services Department currently seeks an Assistant Tribal Attorney-CS, SS. The ideal candidate will be a dynamic and energetic attorney capable to perform work in child support and child welfare and other projects as assigned. The Assistant Tribal Attorney-CS, SS will work as part of a team to protect and preserve the best interests of Menominee children and families. The position is located in Keshena, Wisconsin. The successful candidate may be eligible for federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PLSF) Program.
The position of ASSISTANT TRIBAL ATTORNEY-CS, SS in LEGAL SERVICES with the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin has been posted beginning 7/28/2016 12:00:00 AM with a Close Date of 8/3/2016 11:59:00 PM.
For more information, this posting can be viewed at http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/Employment/Jobs.aspx
U.S. News report here.
Search warrant and affidavits (PDF) here.
The Tribe is being accused of growing hemp plants with too much THC in them, but the Tribe says they were upfront to the Feds about seedlings they received for industrial hemp research:
Former U.S. Attorney for North Dakota Tim Purdon is working with the Menominee tribe and blasted the raid as a “waste of resources” that “is exacerbated by the fact that the Tribe had agreed to act itself to destroy individual strains of the hemp crop that the Tribe and the U.S. Attorney’s Office agreed were problematic.”
“This misallocation of federal resources is exactly what the [2013] Cole and [2014] Wilkinson Memos were designed to prevent,” he said, referring to the Justice Department memos allowing states and tribes, respectively, to regulate marijuana.
The Menominee Tribe legalized marijuana back in August, but the government has not yet enacted regulations concerning its sale and production.
The case is Menominee Tribal Enterprises v. Solis (7th Cir.) (Posner, J.). Here are the materials:
This case is a wild one. In it, the U.S. is suing Menominee Tribal Enterprises under the False Claims Act for over a million in damages. Bad news. Paraphrasing the DCT here, MTE responded with a very aggressive defense, with massive discovery requests a major feature. Then MTE posts the papers it receives on its website (here). The Menominee Indian Tribe is involved because one of their council members has been subpoenaed by MTE.
From the DCT’s order:
the United States’ motion for a protective order barring MTE’s dissemination of discovery materials on its website and its motion to seal the deposition of Douglas Cox are denied. The Tribe’s motion to quash the subpoena compelling the deposition of Lisa Waukau is granted, and MTE’s motion to compel the production of BIA invoices, invoice review policies, and related documents is denied.
Complaint [there are answers and counterclaims, too, but I’ll leave those out]
Menominee Tribe Motion for Protective Order [council member subpoena]
Turtle Talk 