Here is today’s order list.
Cert petition and lower court materials here.
Oglala Sioux Tribe v. Fleming
Oglala Sioux Tribe v. Fleming Cert Petition
Here:
Questions presented:
1. Whether the Eighth Circuit erred in holding, in conflict with decisions of this Court and three other courts of appeals, that the possibility of filing a separate mandamus action was in and of itself “sufficient” to provide an “adequate opportunity” requiring Younger abstention, where plaintiffs had no opportunity to challenge the constitutionality of the preliminary hearing procedure in the course of the state’s abuse and neglect proceedings?
2. Whether the court of appeals erred in holding, in conflict with three courts of appeals, that the “extraordinary circumstances” exception to Younger abstention applies only to flagrantly and patently unconstitutional statutes, but not to flagrantly and patently unconstitutional policies, and in concluding that separating children from their parents for sixty days with no notice or opportunity to be heard inflicted no irreparable harm?
Lower court materials here.
Eighth Circuit Asks Defendants for Response to En Banc Petition
Here is the order:
JUDGE ORDER:A petition for rehearing has been filed by the appellees in the above cases. The court requests a response to the petition. The response is limited to 3900 words and must contain a word count certificate. The response should be filed electronically. Response due on 11/08/2018 by Appellants Mark Vargo, Craig Pfeifle and Lisa Fleming. Hrg Feb 2018 [4720385] [17-1135, 17-1136, 17-1137] (JPP)
The petition is here.
Oglala Sioux Tribe Files En Banc Petition in South Dakota ICWA Case
Oglala Sioux v. Fleming Update and Briefs in the Eighth Circuit
Oglala Sioux v. Fleming (previously Van Hunnik) is the class action suit initiated by the Oglala Sioux and Rosebud Sioux Tribes and the ACLU/Stephen Pevar arguing that Pennington County, SD is violating the due process rights and ICWA rights of Indian families. The case is complex and on-going. Since the suit was originally filed in 2013, the tribes and individual tribal members represented in the class have strung together a series of compelling district court orders in their favor. Recently, the state appealed those orders to the Eighth Circuit. You can find those orders, and some of the briefing collected here.
Here is the current briefing in the Eighth Circuit:
Appellant Brief–Vargo (March 24, 2017)
Appellant Brief–Fleming and Valenti, DSS (March 24, 2017)
Appellant Brief–Pfeifle (March 30, 2017)
Oglala Sioux Moves for Summary Judgment against South Dakota Dept. of Social Services for Inadequate Training and Supervision
Here is the pleading in Oglala Sioux Tribe v. Fleming (D.S.D.):
Turtle Talk 