Nebraska Supreme Court

SCOTUSBlog Petition of the Day: Nebraska v. Elise M.

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here:

The petition of the day is:

12-1278

Issue: (1) Whether the Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 U.S.C. §§ 1901-63, prohibits a state court from considering the “best interests of the child” when determining whether “good cause” exists to defy the transfer of an ongoing child welfare case; and (2) whether ICWA requires a state court to treat a motion to terminate parental rights as a “new proceeding” for the purposes of determining whether “good cause” exists to defy the transfer of an ongoing child welfare case.

Possibly a candidate for a CVSG.

Briefs in Opposition to Nebraska v. Elise M. Cert Petition

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Elisa M. Cert Opp

Omaha Tribe Cert Opp

The cert petition is here.

Cert Petition Challenging Nebraska SCT Decision on Good Cause “Exception” to ICWA Tribal Court Transfer Rule

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the petition:

Zylena R v. Elise M. Cert Petition

The questions presented:

(1) Whether ICWA prohibits a state court from considering the “best interests of the child” when determining whether “good cause” exists to deny the transfer of an ongoing child welfare case.
(2) Whether ICWA requires a state court to treat a motion to terminate parental rights as a “new proceeding” for purposes of determining whether “good cause” exists to deny the transfer of an ongoing child welfare case.
Lower court decision here.

Nebraska SCT Overrules Precedent Designed to Avoid Application of ICWA

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the opinion in In re Zylena R.

From the court’s syllabus:

To the extent that In re Interest of C.W. et al., 239 Neb. 817, 479 N.W.2d 105 (1992), permits a state court to consider the best interests of an Indian child in deciding whether there is good cause to deny a motion to transfer a proceeding to tribal court, it is overruled.

Nebraska Supreme Court Modifies Storevisions Opinion…

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

…but still holds that a signed tribal waiver can be authorized by the presence of 5 of 7 tribal council members (instead of an affirmative vote in a regular meeting required by the tribal constitution).

Here is the order:

Storevisions Modified Opinion.

Here are the materials:

State Supreme Court Outcomes: Iowa and Nebraska

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here are two grain belt states, Iowa and Nebraska.

In Iowa, tribal interests are successful in 31 percent of cases

In Nebraska, tribal interests are successful in 33 percent of cases.

Here are the Iowa cases:

Continue reading →

Briefing in StoreVisions v. Omaha Tribe — Petition for Rehearing Pending in Nebraska Supreme Court — UPDATED

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here is the Nebraska Supreme Court’s opinion.

And the materials we have so far:

Omaha Tribe Appellant Brief

Storevisions Appellee Brief

Omaha Tribe Reply Brief

2011-04-04 Omaha Tribe Motion for Rehearing

Storevisions Response to Motion for Rehearing.

2011-04-25 Amici Curiae Brief inSupport of Def-appellant Omaha

Nebraska SCT Holds Tribal Officials with “Apparent Authority” (Not Actual Authority) May Waive Tribal Immunity

Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

Here is today’s opinion in StoreVisions v. Omaha Tribe (as first reported in Indianz).

An excerpt:

As noted, this separate waiver was signed in the presence offive of the seven members of the tribal council and lends even more weight to an appearance that the signatories to the document—the chairman and vice chairman—were vested with theauthority to waive the tribe’s sovereign immunity.

The court refused to take judicial notice of tribal laws for some reason, and gave great weight to the mere presence of tribal council members in finding a waiver. Fairly remarkable decision.