120 results for 'cat:"Native Americans"'.
J. Moore finds the juvenile court properly terminated the mother's parental rights to her two children. The children were originally removed after the mother was found intoxicated on a city bus and placed into a detox facility. There were also reports the mother had abused the children and left them unsupervised at a homeless shelter. Clear and convincing evidence shows the mother is unfit and that termination is in the children’s best interests. The termination also accords with all factors of state and federal Indian child welfare acts. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Moore , Filed On: January 23, 2024, Case #: A-23-377, Categories: Family Law, native Americans, Guardianship
J. Vera finds in favor of the children protective services (CPS) against the Native American tribe's complaint that CPS violated the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) by not fully investigating the two children's Native American ancestry and not giving the tribe proper notice. The tribe and the biological parents do not provide facts showing that the biological parents or the children were either members of or eligible for membership of any tribe during the adoption proceedings.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Vera, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv1586, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Family Law, native Americans
J. Piersol denies a hotel and casino's motion for an independent medical examination of two individuals in a civil rights matter in which an individual was attempting to rent a room at the hotel in June 2020, when he and the hotel operator argued over a required damage deposit. The individual who attempted to rent the room is an individual of Native American descent. Two years later, another Native American individual was present while a group was boycotting the hotel, and the hotel operator allegedly sprayed dust spray into the individual's face. The hotel sought psychiatric examinations of the two Native American individuals despite having the medical records and extensive information developed during discovery of both individuals.
Court: USDC South Dakota, Judge: Piersol, Filed On: January 16, 2024, Case #: 5:22cv5027, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, native Americans
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J. Bacon finds the 10th Circuit's previous decisions terminated the jurisdiction shifting component of the New Mexico Tribal Gaming Compact and prevented further actions, including the underlying personal injury claim against a tribal casino at issue here, from being transferred to state court. The court entered a final judgment that triggered the termination clause in the contract and, therefore, the lower court will be instructed to dismiss the case upon remand. Reversed.
Court: New Mexico Supreme Court, Judge: Bacon, Filed On: January 16, 2024, Case #: S-1-SC-39169, Categories: native Americans, Jurisdiction, Contract
J. Baker finds that the trial court complied with the notification requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act in a juvenile dependency proceeding. Formal notice to Indian tribes was not required because there was no reason to believe that the minor is an Indian child. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Baker, Filed On: January 12, 2024, Case #: B321592, Categories: Family Law, native Americans
[Consolidated] J. Funke finds the court of appeals properly dismissed the state's appeal of a custody case for lack of jurisdiction. The juvenile court entered an order transferring the Oglala Sioux family's parental termination cases to the tribal court. Though the state argues the juvenile court must have the consent of the tribal court first, the order itself is not final or appealable.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Funke , Filed On: January 12, 2024, Case #: S-23-234, Categories: Family Law, native Americans, Jurisdiction
J. Welte orders a new joint North Dakota legislative district be drafted for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and Spirit Lake Tribe which claimed a prior 2021 redistricting plan violated the Voting Rights Act and diluted the tribes’ voting strength. The court previously gave the North Dakota Secretary of State until 22nd of December, 2023 to remedy the violation, but the Secretary did not propose a district correction.
Court: USDC North Dakota , Judge: Welte, Filed On: January 8, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv22, NOS: Voting - Civil Rights, Categories: Elections, native Americans
J. Carney finds the superior court properly ruled that the Sitka Tribe of Alaska was not the prevailing party for purposes of awarding attorney fees despite the tribe’s claim that the State’s management of a commercial fishery harmed a subsistence fishery. “The Tribe has not met its heavy burden of persuasion to show that the superior court abused its discretion by denying attorney’s fees to all parties.” Affirmed.
Court: Alaska Supreme Court, Judge: Carney, Filed On: December 29, 2023, Case #: S-18114, Categories: native Americans, Attorney Fees
J. Hiramoto holds that the juvenile court's termination of parental rights without an inquiry with extended family members about the child's ancestry was an abuse of discretion. The county social services agency must conduct a full inquiry into the child's native heritage under the Indian Child Welfare Act. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hiramoto, Filed On: December 28, 2023, Case #: A167363, Categories: Family Law, native Americans
[Consolidated.] J. Yohalem finds the lower court erroneously affirmed the removal of the Native American child from his guardians because the government failed to provide sufficient evidence of its efforts to prevent the unnecessary removal of the child as required under the Indian Child Welfare Act. The only evidence from the state agency came from a single witness who testified the agency made numerous phone calls to the guardians over a 9-month period, while the agency also failed to conduct in-home studies of the child's grandparents and birth parents to determine if they were suitable placements. Reversed.
Court: New Mexico Court of Appeals, Judge: Yohalem, Filed On: December 20, 2023, Case #: A-1-CA-40390, Categories: Evidence, Family Law, native Americans
J. Choe-Groves grants Thlopthlocco Tribal Town's motion for declaratory judgment holding that it is "entitled to sovereign immunity in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Courts and may, if it chooses, waive its sovereign immunity." Also, the judicial defendants' dismissal motion, in which they argue that the case is moot, is denied. The court concludes that its exercise of jurisdiction is appropriate and confirms that the plaintiff is a "federally recognized tribe, and it enjoys sovereign immunity."
Court: USDC Northern District of Oklahoma , Judge: Choe-Groves, Filed On: December 20, 2023, Case #: 4:09cv527, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: native Americans, Immunity, Jurisdiction
J. Traynor grants in part North Dakota's motion for partial summary judgment from a dispute involving the Dakota Access pipeline protests. North Dakota sought damages incurred from the emergency response costs related to protest activity after the Army Corps of Engineers began discussions for a special use permit to lawfully permit protestors to be on Corps’ land. North Dakota's motion is granted, as undisputed evidence shows the Corps failed to follow its mandatory permitting procedures. However, a question of duty of care exists which will be answered at trial in further proceedings. The United States' motion to certify a question to the North Dakota Supreme Court is denied.
Court: USDC North Dakota , Judge: Traynor, Filed On: December 13, 2023, Case #: 1:19cv150, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Energy, native Americans, Damages
J. Whitehead orders the federal government to produce the 10 documents listed in the tribe's motion to compel, as part of the tribe's complaint that the government wrongfully refused to federally recognize the tribe. The tribe's allegations and the description of the withheld documents, such as the emails the Muckleshoot Tribe sent to the Department of the Interior, are enough to warrant an in-camera review that may yield evidence.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Whitehead, Filed On: December 12, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv633, NOS: Administrative Procedure Act/Review or Appeal of Agency Decision - Other Suits, Categories: Government, native Americans, Discovery
J. Morris finds in favor of the native tribe in a dispute with a company that was leased Indian trust land to operate a campground near Glacier National Park. The campground operator eventually made a series of late payments, prompting a dispute with the native tribe as to whether the operator violated its lease and questions regarding what responsibility the U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) had in the matter, given that they oversaw the lease agreement. While it is true that the campground operator had a history of delinquency in its ability to make full payments on time with the proper interest, the "incompetence of the BIA" must also be made clear. The BIA gave far too much leeway to the operator despite a long history of late payments, allowing the operator to use the ground even after the lease was seemingly cancelled. This further resulted in the native tribe missing out on years of free use of their land.
Court: USDC Montana, Judge: Morris, Filed On: December 8, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv93, NOS: Rent Lease & Ejectment - Real Property, Categories: native Americans, Contract
J. Zilly denies the trucking company's motion to modify or vacate the consent decree entered on Dec. 8, 2020, regarding the government's complaint accusing the trucking company of violating the Clean Water Act by discharging fill material into wetlands and streams. The trucking company asserts that wetlands separated from other United States waters by man-made dikes or barriers do not count as adjacent wetlands, but the case the trucking company cites recognizes that the CWA prevents a landowner from carving out wetlands from federal jurisdiction using a barrier.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Zilly, Filed On: December 8, 2023, Case #: 2:18cv747, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, native Americans, Water
J. Kornmann dismisses a cattle rancher's second amended complaint with prejudice in a dispute over leasing various range units on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The dispute resulted in impoundment and subsequent holding of the rancher's cattle in Nebraska by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The rancher claimed that the impoundment caused an infection of Trichomoniasis to spread through his herd. The rancher offered no evidence that any action of the BIA resulted in the infection of his impounded cattle.
Court: USDC South Dakota, Judge: Kornmann, Filed On: December 8, 2023, Case #: 5:15cv5062, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: Agriculture, Property, native Americans
J. Piersol grants a nonprofit organization's motion to dismiss counterclaims stemming from an underlying complaint in which an individual attempted to rent a room at a hotel in June 2020, and the individual began to argue with a hotel employee for allegedly requiring a damage deposit. An individual then made social media posts stating that she would "not allow a Native American to enter our business," because she could not tell "who is a bad Native or a good Native." The nonprofit filed the lawsuit alleging interference with contract on the basis of race. As part of a counterclaim, the hotel alleged that the nonprofit "intentionally interfered with business relations, and have trespassed onto Defendants' property by projecting light images, entered the property without permission, intimidated hotel guests, and vandalized the property." All five counterclaims are dismissed.
Court: USDC South Dakota, Judge: Piersol, Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv5027, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: native Americans, Contract
J. Ceresia finds that a school district's appeal from a state order to cease using "Indians" as a nickname with Native American imagery should be dismissed as moot. While the appeal was pending, state education regulations were amended to specify that no public school in New York would be allowed to use Indigenous names, logos, or mascots for any reason other than classroom instruction.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Ceresia, Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: 535910, Categories: Education, native Americans
J. Massing affirms decrees terminating a mother’s parental rights regarding her two youngest children, who are fraternal twins. The Indian Child Welfare Act doesn’t apply here in any way that would change the case’s outcome because the mother has an extensive history of domestic violence and convictions for manslaughter and child endangerment, which resulted from an incident resulting in the death of one of her children.
Court: Massachusetts Court Of Appeals, Judge: Massing, Filed On: November 29, 2023, Case #: 22-P-1048, Categories: Family Law, native Americans, Guardianship
J. Du grants the government’s motion to dismiss this suit brought by the Indian Tribes seeking to block construction of a lithium mine near Thacker Pass, Nevada. The tribes say that a certain clause in the plan of operations shows that the Bureau of Land Management authorized violations by not terminating the mining company’s prior permits when its record of decision was issued, which is not plausible. Without any violation of the plan, the land management claim is implausible, though the tribes are granted leave to amend.
Court: USDC Nevada, Judge: Du, Filed On: November 9, 2023, Case #: 3:23cv70, NOS: Administrative Procedure Act/Review or Appeal of Agency Decision - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, Government, native Americans
J. Gleason denies the state's request for declaratory and permanent injunctive relief and dismisses its claims regarding whether the Federal Subsistence Board had the authority to open an emergency subsistence hunt on federal lands for the Organized Village of Kake in the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Organized Village of Kake is a remote Alaskan community which, like others, requested an emergency hunting authorization to address existing or potential food shortages during the early days of the pandemic due to food supply chain issues. "The hunt successfully concluded on July 24, 2020, and the harvest was distributed to 135 households in the village." The Federal Subsistence Board did not exceed its authority when it authorized the emergency subsistence hunt.
Court: USDC Alaska, Judge: Gleason, Filed On: November 3, 2023, Case #: 3:20cv195, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: native Americans, Covid-19, Injunction
Per curiam, the USDC of Western North Dakota denies voters' motion for summary judgment and oral argument in a matter in which they allege the subdivision of two North Dakota legislative districts are unconstitutional racial gerrymanders. The two voters are North Dakota residents and voters in districts 4 and 9. The two voters claim that the subdistricts drawn in districts 4 and 9 as a part of the state’s 2021 redistricting plan violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The state had strong evidence to believe that the creation of subdistricts were required by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Court: USDC North Dakota , Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: November 2, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv31, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: Elections, native Americans
J. Baker finds that the lower court properly terminated the mother's parental rights after multiple tribes confirmed the child does not qualify for tribal membership and the mother repeatedly tested positive for meth. The record includes documented instances of neglect, abuse and drug use by the mother that substantially impacted the child's welfare. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Baker, Filed On: October 31, 2023, Case #: DA 23-0157, Categories: Family Law, native Americans
J. Lorello finds that the lower court properly terminated the mother's parental rights to her children. The evidence clearly shows that the mother abandoned and neglected her child, and the state made active efforts to avoid breakup of the Indian family. Affirmed.
Court: Idaho Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lorello, Filed On: October 30, 2023, Case #: 50905, Categories: Family Law, native Americans
J. Hiland finds the circuit court properly found the gaming license issued to two entities void, as not having been issued in accordance with the Arkansas Constitution. The Cherokee business entity and a casino, both of which had their gaming license applications denied, were eventually issued a license together during a drawn-out and complex application and litigation process. The organizations are separate legal entities. The Arkansas Racing Commission acted ultra vires when issuing the license because the Cherokee entity had no pending application and the Arkansas Constitution specifically allows for a single applicant. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Hiland, Filed On: October 26, 2023, Case #: CV-23-50, Categories: Constitution, Licensing, native Americans