Two young Native American lawyers call for action on missing and murdered indigenous women

Lauren van Schilfgaarde and Heather Torres introduced the ABA to the missing and murdered indigenous women crisis in February by first sharing the stories of those who suffered. Those stories resonated with the ABA House of Delegates.

Aug 1, 2020 12:25 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Governor sues over mask mandate; court openings paused

Georgia governor sues Atlanta to block mask mandate Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has filed a lawsuit seeking to block a mask mandate by the city of Atlanta. The July 16 suit says Kemp has the power to suspend mask mandates that are contrary to his directive encouraging, but not requiring,…

Jul 17, 2020 4:10 PM CDT

Voting access and protection against violence for Native Americans should be top priorities, ABA House says

Apr 1, 2020 12:25 AM CDT

Robert Saunooke champions Native American issues in his career and in the ABA

The universe unfolds as it is intended. That’s the mantra Robert Saunooke has called on for motivation through much of his life. It guided the citizen and enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians through challenges he encountered during his childhood and opportunities he embraced as he built a practice focused on representing Native American tribes and their members.

Mar 16, 2020 10:20 AM CDT

This Alaska lawyer blends life and law as a tribal court judge and an Orthodox Jew

How does a Jewish kid from Philly become a tribal court judge in Alaska? Just ask Judge David Avraham Voluck.

Feb 1, 2020 1:10 AM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Pelosi prepares impeachment articles for Senate; lawyer faces charges over deceased father’s pension

Pelosi plans to send impeachment articles to Senate next week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to House Democrats on Friday that she is preparing to send the impeachment articles to the Senate to start the trial of President Donald Trump. “I have asked Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry…

Jan 10, 2020 4:42 PM CST

Attorney balances his firm’s demands with duties as a judge in local, federal and tribal courts

To borrow an analogy from Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., if lawyers are baseball players and judges are umpires, then Greg Smith not only calls balls and strikes, he also throws them and tries to hit them. Smith is a family lawyer in Tennessee. When he’s not practicing law, he’s interpreting it—serving as a judge at three different levels of government.

Nov 1, 2019 2:10 AM CDT

Gorsuch joins with liberal justices in Supreme Court ruling for Indian tribe’s hunting rights

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch joined with four liberal justices on Monday in a ruling for a member of the Crow Tribe who was arrested for offseason hunting. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Crow Tribe’s hunting rights, established in an 1868 treaty, did not expire when…

May 20, 2019 11:40 AM CDT

Tribe bans South Dakota governor from reservation over her support for laws targeting Keystone XL pipeline protests

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is no longer welcome on the Pine Ridge Reservation because of her support for anti-rioting laws passed in response to protests of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. The Oglala Sioux Tribal Council told Noem in a Thursday letter that she is no longer welcome on…

May 3, 2019 3:20 PM CDT

Can Trump legally use emergency powers to build a border wall? Experts weigh in

Updated: On Friday morning, President Donald Trump confirmed that he will be declaring a national emergency to build a border wall. Experts say the emergency declaration itself will likely be judged fully within his powers as the president of the United States. But it's much less clear that the president's emergency powers permit him to build a wall using the military construction statutes most observers think he'll use. And the project could be tied up in eminent domain challenges until 2020 or later.

Feb 14, 2019 6:15 PM CST

Federal court in Texas declares Indian Child Welfare Act unconstitutional

A Northern Texas federal district court struck down portions of the Indian Child Welfare Act last Thursday, finding that the disputed sections violate the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee by mandating racial preferences.

Oct 10, 2018 10:00 AM CDT

How a rural murder case could return nearly half the state of Oklahoma to tribal control

Patrick Murphy doesn’t deny participating in the murder and mutilation of George Jacobs in 1999.

But it’s possible that his conviction doesn’t count. As Murphy argued in a habeas appeal to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Denver, he’s a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, as was Jacobs, and the murder took place on land that was part of the tribe’s reservation as defined by an 1866 treaty.

Sep 1, 2018 2:20 AM CDT

10 Questions: Native American judge devotes legal career to restorative justice

Chief Judge Abby Abinanti presides over the Yurok Tribal Court in Klamath, California, and her community-based, restorative approach to justice, along with initiatives she helped launch and lead, are improving lives across this remote Northern California reservation. There’s a wellness program to help drug offenders, a community restitution program, and even a program for those accused of domestic violence that has a recidivism rate of zero.

Mar 1, 2018 2:35 AM CST

Legal aid agency serving the Navajo Nation to close 3 offices

A legal aid office serving a heavily Navajo clientele is shutting three of its nine offices for financial reasons, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported Thursday. DNA-People’s Legal Services is responding to several years in which its expenses fell short of revenues. Santa Fe City Councilor Peter Ives, a member…

Aug 21, 2017 4:00 PM CDT

Drug firms knew opiates were being abused on Cherokee reservations but did nothing, lawsuit alleges

Pharmaceutical companies and drugstore retailers, named as defendants in a tribal court lawsuit alleging gross negligence, civil conspiracy and unjust enrichment related to the delivery system for prescription opiates, want the action moved to federal court, which the Cherokee Nation argues would violate federal law that recognizes its sovereign status…

Jul 24, 2017 7:45 AM CDT