Native American Law Report articles from April 2005

Native American Law Report archives from April 2005

Scientists are protesting.(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... SCIENTISTS ARE PROTESTING the intentions behind a proposal to amend a federal law protecting ancient remains. The changes, they worry, could overturn the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling last year that allowed them to study the ancient...

A genetic bill of rights.(Slants & Trends)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... A GENETIC BILL OF RIGHTS is what the world needs, according to a new book on individual rights in the biotechnological age. Titled Rights and Liberties in the Biotech Age: Why We Need a Genetic Bill of Rights, the book includes a chapter by...

The bureau of land management.(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT'S Web site was been shut down April 8 after the Interior Department's inspector general reported its computer systems were vulnerable to security threats. Indian plaintiffs in the Cobell v. Norton Indian trust...

Lawsuit asks state court to halt use of 'racist' sports mascot by university.
April 1, 2005... Decades of protest against the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's (UIUC) Chief Illiniwek mascot have culminated in a lawsuit March 15 in the Circuit Court of Cook County in Illinois. INABA v. Board of Trustees of the University of...

Sovereign tribe can be joined as party in case over company's hiring preference.(Indian Preference)
April 1, 2005... A federal agency may proceed with its lawsuit against a coal company over preferential hiring of Navajos, an appeals court ruled this month. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided unanimously that it would not stop the Equal Employment...

ACLU appeals voter rights lawsuit against city for alleged discrimination.(Voting Rights)
April 1, 2005... A 2002 redistricting plan that some Indians are calling discriminatory will remain for now, since two Indian plaintiffs failed to prove that the Martin City Council passed the plan with "racially discriminatory intent," according to a federal...

Court temporarily halts state law likely to impact Indian voter districts.(Voting Rights)
April 1, 2005... In the midst of ongoing legal challenges over Native American voting rights in South Dakota, a federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order preventing a voting-related state law from being implemented just yet. U.S. District...

Tribe Alleges School Exploitation of Indians' 'Plight' for Fundraising.(Taxation)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... A tribe is suing a local mission school and the Roman Catholic Church for allegedly exploiting Indian poverty to raise millions of dollars annually in the name of the school. According to the lawsuit, filed in March in Yellowstone County...

Oregon tribes ask court for help protecting fish from inadequate plan.(Tribal Fisheries)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... If the Bush administration's salmon plan for 2005 is implemented, taxpayers' costs over the next 10 years could reach $6 billion "with little or no biological benefit," according to three treaty tribes in the Columbia River Basin in Portland,...

Supreme Court: passage of 200 years averts tribe's assertion of sovereignty.(Indian Case Law Abstracts)
April 1, 2005... City of Sherrill, New York v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York Supreme Court of the United States, No. 03-855 (March 29, 2005) The Supreme Court has ruled that the Oneida Indians could not re-establish sovereignty over land within their...

State must recognize tribe's vehicle titling and registration system.(Indian Case Law Abstracts)
April 1, 2005... Prairie Band of Potawatomi Indians v. Wagnon U.S. Court of Appeals, 10th Cir., No. 03-3322 (March 25, 2005) A federal appeals court has ruled that the State of Kansas must recognize tribal titling and registration of motor vehicles...

Conclusive eligibility determination required before parental termination.(Indian Case Law Abstracts)
April 1, 2005... In re the Matter of A. G. Supreme Court of Montana, No. 04-357 (March 30, 2005) The Montana Supreme Court has ruled that a lower court, in terminating parental rights, should not have relied on letters from tribes questioning...

County complied with ICWA on eligibility of children for tribal enrollment.(Indian Case Law Abstracts)
April 1, 2005... In re Grace M. Court of Appeal of California, 6th Dist., No. H027656 (March 24, 2005) A California court has ruled that an agency complied with the notice requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act when it concluded that children...

Complaint against tribal Casino must be heard in tribal court.(Indian Case Law Abstracts)
April 1, 2005... J. C. Hatcher v. Harrah's NC Casino Company LLC Court of Appeals of North Carolina, No. COA04-823 (March 15, 2005) A North Carolina court has ruled that a casino customer's complaint against a management company over unfair gaming...

Eviction by tribal housing authority is not 'internal' matter for tribal court.(Indian Case Law Abstracts)
April 1, 2005... Francis v. Dana-Cummings Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, No. 04-477 (March 10, 2005) The Maine Supreme Court, applying a state statute, has ruled that neither a tribal housing authority nor its executive director were protected...

BIA Contract with Oklahoma tribes is binding despite appropriations law.(Indian Case Law Abstracts)(Bureau of Indian Affairs, Shawnee tribes )
April 1, 2005... Appeal of Citizen Potawatomi Nation of Oklahoma IBCA No. 4522/04 (March 22, 2005) The U.S. Department of the Interior Board of Contract Appeals has ruled that when it comes to funding self-government compacts between the Bureau of...

District court refuses to transfer case despite related cases in other court.(Indian Case Law Abstracts)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The Osage Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma v. United States U.S. District Court, D.D.C., No. 04-0283 (March 9, 2005) A federal district court has ruled that so long as it had subject matter jurisdiction over an Indian tribe's claim...

Tribe sues to protect sacred site, challenges environmental compliance.(Sacred Sites)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... An Arizona tribe is suing to halt the construction of seven telescopes on a mountain that is deemed sacred to the tribe. Located near the U.S.-Mexican border, Kitt Peak mountain is known to the tribe as I'itoi's Garden and is spiritually...

Pechanga family files second lawsuit alleging wrongful tribal disenrollment.(Tribal Disenrollment)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... A family of former Pechanga Indians has filed a new lawsuit against tribal members who kicked them out of the tribe more than one year ago. Filed in California's Riverside County Superior Court, the lawsuit charges Pechanga leaders with...