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Why A Conservative Legal Organization Is Desperately Trying To Kill The Indian Child Welfare Act
In case you didn't realize, it's not just about stealing babies.
ThinkProgress:
Why A Conservative Legal Organization Is Desperately Trying To Kill The Indian Child Welfare Act
In recent years, the conservative legal movement and the Roberts Court have been working to strike down laws that were created to remedy discrimination.
In recent years, the conservative legal movement and the Roberts Court have been working to strike down laws that were created to remedy discrimination.
...Michigan State University’s Fort sees this case as part of the broader effort to eliminate protections for minority groups that was gaining steam prior to Justice Antonin Scalia’s death. “If you can make Indians just like any other race-based group and you’re already getting rid of all remediation for race-based groups,” they can wipe out a whole array of laws. This strategy, many experts pointed out, may be harder on the current eight-member court or one with a fifth Democratic appointee.
The University of Arizona’s Williams said the high court would have to upend “an entire body of law — federal Indian law,” in order to strike down ICWA. He points to a 1974 case in which the Supreme Court held that in order to apply equal protection to Indian law, it would also have to throw out “literally every piece of legislation dealing with Indian tribes and reservations, and certainly all legislation dealing with the Bureau of Indian Affairs."
The University of Arizona’s Williams said the high court would have to upend “an entire body of law — federal Indian law,” in order to strike down ICWA. He points to a 1974 case in which the Supreme Court held that in order to apply equal protection to Indian law, it would also have to throw out “literally every piece of legislation dealing with Indian tribes and reservations, and certainly all legislation dealing with the Bureau of Indian Affairs."
But if the Supreme Court accepts the organization’s argument that it must treat Native American tribes as a racial classification, other Indian laws could be subjected to renewed scrutiny. For example, Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, which gives tribes special legal protections for their gambling casinos, could be newly vulnerable to challenge.
And that could be a financial motivation for some ICWA opponents. For instance, a ThinkProgress review found that former Solicitor General Clement argued on behalf of a corporate client in another 2013 case that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act violated the Equal Protection Clause — the same year he raised similar arguments in the Adoptive Couple case.
And that could be a financial motivation for some ICWA opponents. For instance, a ThinkProgress review found that former Solicitor General Clement argued on behalf of a corporate client in another 2013 case that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act violated the Equal Protection Clause — the same year he raised similar arguments in the Adoptive Couple case.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/04/08/3754462/indian-child-welfare-act-case-goldwater/