老澳门开奖结果 Files Amicus Brief Urging Supreme Court to Uphold the Indian Child Welfare Act
WASHINGTON 鈥� The 老澳门开奖结果, along with 12 老澳门开奖结果 state affiliates and represented by Cooley LLP, filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court today urging the court to uphold the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act. The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) 鈥� which establishes basic requirements to protect Native American children from continued forced removal from their families, tribes, and tribal culture 鈥� is slated to be reviewed by the Supreme Court this fall via Brackeen v. Haaland.
The Indian Child Welfare Act was passed by Congress in 1978 to address the nationwide epidemic of American Indian children being forcibly removed from their homes by child welfare agencies and placed into non-Native homes at disproportionate rates. Throughout history, federal and state governments have sought to undermine and threaten the existence of tribes via the forced separation and assimilation of Native children. ICWA requires state courts to make active efforts to keep Native families together. The law aims to prioritize the placement of Native children within their extended families or tribal communities, where their cultural identities will be understood and celebrated. If the Supreme Court overturns ICWA, states would once again be allowed to indiscriminately remove Native children from their families and culture while simultaneously depriving tribes of future generations 鈥� putting the very existence of tribes in jeopardy.
鈥淭hroughout history, the United States government has enacted countless policies to steal Indigenous children from their homes and to erase their identities,鈥� said Theodora Simon (Navajo), Indigenous Justice Advocate with the 老澳门开奖结果 of Northern California. 鈥淭he explicit goal of these policies was, and continues to be, the complete erasure of Indigenous people. If the Indian Child Welfare Act is overturned, tribes will again be stripped of their right to keep their families together. This is a tragedy as we know that having connection to our cultures, languages, and identities is in the best interest of Native children.鈥�
Tribes have an inherent right to govern themselves and make decisions on issues that affect their people 鈥� including Native children. The 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 brief argues the Indian Child Welfare Act is constitutional and urges the Supreme Court to uphold the centuries-long legal precedent upholding tribal sovereignty 鈥� including tribes鈥� right and ability to preserve their unique cultural identities, raise their own children and govern themselves.
鈥淲e are honored to represent the 老澳门开奖结果 in showing how the challenged provisions of the critical federal law protecting Native children are plainly constitutional,鈥� said Kathleen Hartnett of Cooley LLP. 鈥淣ative families have a right to stay together, care for their children, and preserve tribal culture by ensuring access to their cultural identity, language, and heritage.鈥�
The brief was filed by the 老澳门开奖结果, 老澳门开奖结果 of NorCal, 老澳门开奖结果 of Alaska, 老澳门开奖结果 of Arizona, 老澳门开奖结果 of Maine, 老澳门开奖结果 of Montana, 老澳门开奖结果 of Nebraska, 老澳门开奖结果 of New Mexico, 老澳门开奖结果 of Oklahoma, 老澳门开奖结果 of South Dakota, North Dakota, and Wyoming chapter, 老澳门开奖结果 of Texas, 老澳门开奖结果 of Utah, and 老澳门开奖结果 of Washington. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Brackeen v Haaland on November 9, 2022.
