NARF

Save the Date: Apply to Clerk at NARF by September 25, 2015

Matthew Campbell

Founded in 1970, the Native American Rights Fund (“NARF”) is the oldest and largest nonprofit law firm dedicated to asserting and defending the rights of Indian tribes, organizations, and individuals nationwide. NARF’s practice is concentrated in five key areas: the preservation of tribal existence; the protection of tribal natural resources; the promotion of Native American human rights; the accountability of governments to Native Americans; and the development of Indian law and educating the public about Indian rights, laws, and issues.

Summer Clerkships
NARF is currently seeking candidates for its Summer 2016 Clerkships! Each year, NARF conducts a nation-wide search for law students to participate in its Law Clerk Program. Positions are available in all three of NARF’s offices: Anchorage, AK; Boulder, CO; and Washington, D.C.

Here is the advertisement. The deadline to apply is September 25, 2015.

Federal Court Affirms Oklahoma School’s Refusal to Allow Native High School Graduate to Wear Eagle Feather on Graduation Cap

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the order in Griffith v. Caney Valley Public Schools (N.D. Okla.):

22. Order and Opinion (5-20-15)

Prior materials here.

Magistrate Decision in Griffith v. Caney Valley Public Schools

Kate Fort2 Comments

In which the student is denied the right to wear an eagle feather on her graduation cap. Her graduation from Caney Valley Public Schools, which is just north of Tulsa, is tomorrow.

Recommendation

The School demonstrated that the graduation ceremony is a formal ceremony and that the unity of the graduating class as a whole is fostered by the uniformity of the caps which are the most prominently visible part of the graduation regalia viewed by the audience to the graduation. Prohibiting decoration of any graduation cap by any student for any purpose serves these legitimate interests. Based on the application of these established principles the undersigned finds that Plaintiff has not demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on her First Amendment Free Exercise of Religion claim.

Plaintiff’s Motion and Brief

Defendant’s Motion and Brief

20. Objection to Report and Rec (5-20-15)

21. Defs Resp to Obj to RR (5-20-15)

Videos Available from Indigenous Peacemaking Training

Victoria Sweet

The NARF Indigenous Peacemaking Initiative held a training in Catoosa, Oklahoma on October 6-7, 2014. NARF partnered with NAICJA and Columbia Law School for this training and is working on organizing future Peacemaking events.

Videos of the training are now available here.

Job Posting: Law Office Administrator at NARF

Kate Fort

Here.

JOB SUMMARY: Manages the day-to-day operations of the law office and, in that capacity, maintains responsibility for personnel administration (including compensation and insurance benefits) network and communications systems, physical facilities, and legal support functions. Provides administrative support for the Executive Director and the Litigation Management Committee. The LOA identifies and plans for the changing needs of the organization, shares responsibility with the appropriate senior managers for strategic planning, and contributes to cost-effective management throughout the organization.
See the full job description at: http://www.narf.org/contact-us/join-team/

ANNUAL SALARY RANGE: $75,530 + depending on experience. Generous benefits.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE:
Applications will be considered in the order that they are received. Submit resume with application letter and names and addresses of up to three references no later than April 30, 2015 to:
Katrina Mora, Administrative Assistant
katrina@narf.org
NATIVE AMERICAN RIGHTS FUND
1506 Broadway
Boulder, CO 80302-6296

SCOTUS GVRs Knight v. Thompson — A Native Prisoner Matter — in Light of Holt v. Hobbs

Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

Here is the order.

BTW, a GVR stands for “grant vacate remand.” It usually means, as I believe it does here, that the Supreme Court has decided a matter that will affect the disposition of another matter pending before the Court at the time. Here, the Court granted cert to review Holt v. Hobbs. and decided that matter last week. Also pending was a cert petition in Knight v. Thompson involving a challenge by a Native prisoner to his warden’s order to cut his hair. the Court held the Native petition while it decided the other petition, which involved a Muslim man’s challenge to his warden’s order to shave his beard.

Now the Knight case will return to the Eleventh Circuit where the court will review the case in light of the decision in Holt.

NARF: “The impact of Holt v. Hobbs on Native American inmates”

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here. An excerpt:

Holt holds that this approach is wrong.  Much like Knight, the Arkansas prison officials in Holtfeared safety and security issues and ignored the successful measures taken by the vast majority of prison systems to safely accommodate religious beards.  The Holt opinion makes clear that these successful, widespread accommodations are indeed relevant and indicate that Arkansas was not utilizing the “least restrictive means.”  Additionally, the Supreme Court emphasized that judges cannot simply defer to the opinions of prison officials as a means of practicing “unquestioning acceptance,” thereby abdicating judicial responsibility to apply RLUIPA’s very rigorous standard.  Courts must demand persuasive proof that denial of an exemption to a specific person is the least restrictive means of furthering compelling penological interests.  Like the prison officials in Holt, the officials in Knight failed to meet this standard, and the court applied an unquestioning acceptance of their opinions.  It is an error that has plagued the cases of several Native American inmates through several decades of litigation, and we believe that Holt provides the clarity necessary to remedy this persistent issue.

The Holt opinion changes a fundamental aspect of how certain prison systems deal with Native Americans and their religious practices.  For those Natives who reside in the darkest corners of U.S. penal systems, it is no longer the rule that they cannot engage in their traditional religious practices merely because their jailors say so.  Courts will demand more, just as Congress intended when it enacted RLUIPA.

Save the Date: Apply to Clerk at NARF by September 29, 2014

Matthew Campbell

Founded in 1970, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) is the oldest and largest nonprofit law firm dedicated to asserting and defending the rights of Indian tribes, organizations, and individuals nationwide. NARF’s practice is concentrated in five key areas: the preservation of tribal existence; the protection of tribal natural resources; the promotion of Native American human rights; the accountability of governments to Native Americans; and the development of Indian law and educating the public about Indian rights, laws, and issues.
Summer Clerkships
NARF is currently seeking candidates for its Summer 2015 Clerkships! Each year, NARF conducts a nation-wide search for law students to participate in its Law Clerk Program. Positions are available in all three of NARF’s offices: Anchorage, AK; Boulder, CO; and Washington, D.C.

Here is the advertisement.

Letter from NARF, ACLU, and California Indian Legal Services Regarding Wearing Eagle Feathers at Graduation

Kate Fort

Regarding the controversy at Lemoore High School initially forbidding graduating students from wearing an eagle feather on their graduation cap (article here). Letter here.

Typically, an eagle feather is given only in times of great honor – for example, eagle feathers are given to mark great personal achievement. The gift of an eagle feather to a youth is a great honor and is typically given to recognize an important transition in his or her life. Many young people are given eagle feathers upon graduation from high school to signify achievement of this important educational journey and the honor the graduate brings to his or her family, community, and tribe.

Bryce is an enrolled member of the Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, a federally recognized tribe. His Indian heritage comes from his father, who passed away when Bryce was three years old. Bryce’s feathers were gifted to him by his family specifically for this important occasion – his graduation from high school.

Finally, in deciding how to press forward in this matter, we ask Lemoore Union High School District to remember that “in our society and in our culture high school graduation is one of life’s most significant occasions.” Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S. 577, 595, 112 S.Ct. 2649, 2659, 120 L.Ed.2d 467 (1992). “Graduation is a time for family and those closest to the student to celebrate success and express mutual wishes of gratitude and respect, all to the end of impressing upon the young person that role that it is his or her right and duty to assume in the community and all of its diverse parts.” Id. In light of the significance that the eagle feather has to Native American students, especially at graduation, we urge you to permit Native American students like Bryce Baga to express their religious and spiritual beliefs by wearing eagle feathers on their cap or gown.

NARF Peacemaking Initiative

Kate Fort

New website here. There are numerous upcoming events listed there as well. One that we have not yet announced is here (pdf), an event in Oklahoma on April 23-24.

(on a side note, NARF does a great job with its website addresses for these projects, making them very easy to pass on at events or when speaking: narf [dot] org [slash] icwa ; narf [dot] org [slash] peacemaking. It’s a little thing, but much appreciated.)

Indigenous Peacemaking Initiative
The mission of the Indigenous Peacemaking Initiative (IPI) is to support Native peoples in restoring sustainable peacemaking practices by:

* Promoting Traditional Peacemaking Practices
* Raising awareness about peacemaking practice
* Spotlighting existing programs that have had success with model programs
* Coordinating a Traditional Peacemaking Practices Clearinghouse
* Creating a peacemaking clearinghouse by cataloging codes, manuals, curricula and best practices
* Digitizing all records for easy dissemination
* Creating an anthology of successful programs and individuals within peacemaking
* Convening Traditional Peacemaking Meetings
* Coordinating meetings for a variety of audiences interested in peacemaking
* Tribal Leaders, Tribal Peacemakers, Tribal Judges, Policymakers, Non Native Peacemakers
* Training and Teaching Opportunities
* Documenting and disseminating best practices
* Development of curriculum, case studies, and tools
* Provide training on various components and techniques of peacemaking
* Mentoring and Nurturing
* Supporting relationships and mentoring between and among individual peacemakers, programs, and communities