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The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned the decision of Federal District Court Judge Jeffrey Viken holding that the due process and ICWA rights of parents were being violated in abuse and neglect proceedings in Pennington County, South Dakota. However, the appeals court decision was not based on an analysis of constitutional rights or…
34 Federal District Court Judge Viken issued new orders on December 15th in the Oglala Sioux Tribe v. Fleming case (previously Oglala Sioux Tribe v. Van Hunnick). The Court already found in favor of the Plaintiffs over a four years ago, but had not issued orders with any real teeth until now. As such, the…
I was recently appointed to represent a young child who is the subject of an abuse and neglect case. I went to visit with the child at her daycare, and was spontaneously commended by the daycare provider for coming to meet with the child. She told me that she is also a foster parent and…
The soon-to-be final version of the new ICWA regulations were published on June 8, 2016. They will not officially take effect until December 12, 2016. There is extensive commentary prior to the actual regulations in both of the versions linked below: Federal Register Version (actual rule starts at 81 Fed. Reg. 38864) Department of Interior…
Seventh Circuit Judge Jeff Davis, and presumably the South Dakota Attorney General’s office that now represents him, have stipulated to pay fifty thousand ($50,000!!!) in sanctions due to failing to produce requested discovery in the Oglala Sioux Tribe vs. Van Hunnik federal class action. A pile of documents were unsealed earlier this month as a…
I have posted previously (here and here) about some ongoing ICWA litigation around the country. The ICWA Defense Project has released a memorandum with updates on the latest procedural happenings in these cases. It is recommended reading for anyone trying to keep up, and can be found at the following link: March 15, 2016 ICWA…
The Federal Court has denied the motions to reconsider submitted by the Defendants in the Oglala Sioux Tribe v. Van Hunnik federal class action case. The Court found most of the Defendants’ arguments to be either without any merit or duplicative of earlier arguments that were already rejected. The Court’s Order is linked below: 2016_02_19…
Earlier this week I had my first opportunity to observe temporary custody (48 hour) hearings in Pennington County since the Federal District Court entered its Order granting partial summary judgment in the Oglala Sioux Tribe v. Van Hunnik case. Among other things, the Federal Court found that Pennington County courts were violating the constitutional due process…
In a bit of a deviation from my usual blog topics, I feel the need to address the topic of shared parenting. The issue has often become a political one, including in South Dakota. I have seen a number of misconceptions and just plain bad arguments from people on both sides of the issue. I…
The United States Department of Justice has filed a federal lawsuit against the South Dakota Department of Social Services alleging employment discrimination against Native American job applicants. You can view the DOJ press release here, and the federal court complaint here. The complaint alleges that the Pine Ridge DSS office hired less-qualified white people rather…