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Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
ICWA is before the Minnesota Supreme Court again. Here's why
Allison HerreraMPR News Two Martin County foster parents are getting another audience in front of the Minnesota Supreme Court Tuesday, after arguing last fall that a nearly 50-year-old law that prevented them from adopting two Native children is unconstitutional. If the couple succeeds in their challenge, it could drastically alter the constitutionality of the law, which is meant to preserve tribal sovereignty and address decades of Native children being severed from their cultures. The twins at the center of this case were initially placed with foster parents until a lower court ruled they should be placed with a relative. The white foster couple, Kellie and Nathan Reyelts of Fairmont, wanted to adopt the children and claim they've been prevented from doing so because of the Indian Child Welfare Act, or ICWA, and a state companion law known as the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act, or MIFPA. They say the law is unfair. The couple says the placement preferences required under the two laws — that the children be placed with an immediate family member or a foster home approved by the tribe — violate their 5th and 14th Amendment rights. The twins were removed from the Reyelts' home after the Red Lake Nation, the tribal nation their mother is from and which they are eligible to become citizens of, said they should be placed with an aunt. The twins are now living with their grandmother and have been since September of 2023. An older sibling also resides with them. Two lower courts already ruled against the Reyelts' claims that the two laws discriminate against them in the adoption process because of their race. Last fall, they took their case to the Minnesota Supreme Court. Before the court ruled, they asked for a second hearing — Tuesday's — to make the same constitutional claims and add two more issues: Did the district court err in denying their motion for permissive intervention, and did the district court err in dismissing their third party custody petition? The constitutional issue being considered again: Are the placement preferences of ICWA and MIFPA unconstitutional? The placement preference is with an immediate family member or a placement preference chosen by the Red Lake Nation. Joseph Plumer, the attorney for the Red Lake Nation, said the reason the plaintiff's attorneys are bringing this case is simple — they want to bring this case before the United States Supreme Court. During last fall's oral arguments, Associate Justice Anne McKeig, herself a descendant of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, directly asked Plumer if he thought it was their intention. 'Counsel, can I ask you a question that's probably going to be controversial, but I'm going to ask it anyway. Does there seem to be some — gamesmanship may not be the right word — but do you see this court as an avenue to try to get the issue of constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act before the United States Supreme Court?' McKeig asked. 'Yes,' Plumer responded. 'That's exactly what the appellants are trying to do in this case.' Shannon Smith, the executive director of the ICWA Law Center, which provides legal services and advocacy to Native families impacted by the child protection system, agrees. 'They are looking, I think, for something that somehow can be distinguishable from the decision in Haaland v. Brackeen,' Smith said. She is referring to the case involving a white Texas couple who had successfully adopted a Navajo child. Their attorneys, including Mark Fiddler, a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe and the attorney representing the Reyelts, argued the laws were race-based and unconstitutional. Even though they lost the case, the court found that the petitioners' claims of equal protection lacked standing, which is why the Reyelts can challenge the placement and claim discrimination. Fiddler declined to comment to MPR News. Smith says foster parents are an important part of the system of keeping children safe and providing stability. But, their role is temporary. 'You're temporarily stepping in to care for a child where the intent is for the child to be reunified with a parent or place the relative,' she said.
The Guardian
23-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Tribal land ruling undercuts marijuana law's claims of undoing racial disparities
A Minnesota judge's order earlier this month upheld the state's authority to prosecute cannabis-related crimes on tribal lands, raising questions about Indigenous sovereignty and the efficacy of 'social equity' provisions in state-level cannabis laws. Todd Thompson – a member of the White Earth Band of the Chippewa Tribe, began selling cannabis from his licensed tobacco shop on the White Earth reservation on 1 August 2023 – the same day Minnesota passed a law permitting adult-use recreational cannabis. Thompson says the first day went well, but on the second day, the store and his home were both raided by Mahnomen county sheriff's deputies and White Earth tribal police, who seized all of Thompson's cannabis as well as $2,748 in cash. 'When they raided my home, they took my sacred items, my sage bowl, tipped it upside down on my bed, white bed sheets. And they took my feather and put it on the floor,' said Thompson. Thompson believes Article 13 of the constitution of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe gives him the right to sell cannabis. It states: 'All members of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe shall be accorded by the governing body equal rights, equal protection, and equal opportunities to participate in the economic resources and activities of the Tribe, and no member shall be denied any of the constitutional rights or guarantees enjoyed by other citizens of the United States.' At first, he says he was 'very optimistic' about the legality of his operation, especially because other White Earth Band members were planning to open a recreational dispensary. He's been frustrated by news coverage that omits this. 'They make it sound like I'm just a renegade Indian breaking the law. That's not the facts. Under our constitution, I should have the same rights as [the dispensary owners],' he said. It appears nearly impossible for someone who isn't already wealthy to open a dispensary that meets state regulatory requirements. Cannabis's federal status as an illegal narcotic means most banks will not provide loans for a cannabis business. Notably, the poverty rate on the White Earth reservation is double the national average, according to the most recent census. In contrast, former and current members of the executive team at White Earth's first licensed dispensary have experience with private equity and making multimillion-dollar corporate deals, and have spent the bulk of their careers outside the reservation. Minnesota's recreational cannabis law includes social equity provisions intended to give preference to vulnerable people, as well as those with past cannabis convictions, to receive dispensary licenses. Thompson has not benefited from those provisions, and might ironically become one of the many Indigenous people convicted of a cannabis-related crime. Cat Packer, director of drug markets and legal regulation at Drug Policy Action, says cases like Thompson's show the importance of giving marginalized communities 'pathways towards legal economic opportunities in the regulated cannabis industry', adding: 'Without a license, in a regulated framework, criminalization continues, and it's likely that those communities that were historically discriminated against will continue to be.' In December, Thompson filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that the state of Minnesota does not have the authority to prosecute cannabis offenses on reservation land, because after the state legalized adult recreational use, related infractions became civil matters. Public Law 280 gives tribal authorities jurisdiction over civil infractions, while state and federal authorities have jurisdiction over criminal cases. In his order denying the motion to dismiss, district judge Seamus P Duffy cited past cases where marijuana possession had been considered 'clearly criminal' in the state of Minnesota, in order to argue that Thompson's case is also criminal. But those past cases happened when recreational cannabis was still illegal in the state. The case is further complicated by White Earth tribal police participation in Thompson's arrest, raising questions over whether tribal leadership should be able to cede authority to the state. At the time that Thompson's shop was raided, the White Earth Nation reservation business committee had not yet ratified its own recreational cannabis code. The White Earth reservation business committee did not respond to the Guardian's request for comment. Robert Pero, founder and CEO of the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association, said the order 'highlights the ongoing complexities of jurisdiction, self-regulation and sovereignty in the Indigenous cannabis industry'. For his part, Thompson believes White Earth's reservation business committee has unjustly shut off economic opportunities in the cannabis sector for band members. 'Concerns about White Earth's leadership reflect a broader issue – tribal governments must ensure transparency and prioritize the wellbeing of their people,' Pero said, adding that tribal governments are often pulled in many directions when attempting to retain sovereignty and comply with state and federal law. Claire Glenn, the attorney who represented Thompson in the case, connects the defeat to the 'war on drugs' in Minnesota, which has 'particularly targeted Black and Indigenous people'. She added that legislation decriminalizing cannabis in Minnesota was meant not only to 'undo that system, but to redress some of those harms'. Thompson says he's not surprised at the result: 'Racism is alive and well in Indian Country. It's very hard for Native people up here to find justice in any of these courts.'
Boston Globe
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Leonard Peltier leaves prison after Biden commuted his sentence in the killing of two FBI agents
But the move just before Biden left office also prompted criticism from those who say Peltier is guilty, including former FBI Director Christopher Wray, who called him 'a remorseless killer' in a private letter to Biden obtained by The Associated Press. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'Granting Peltier any relief from his conviction or sentence is wholly unjustified and would be an affront to the rule of law,' Wray wrote. Advertisement The commutation was not a pardon for crimes committed, something Peltier's advocates have hoped for since he has always maintained his innocence. Peltier left the prison Tuesday morning in an SUV, according to a prison official. He didn't stop to speak with reporters or his supporters outside the gates. One of his attorneys, Jenipher Jones, said Peltier was looking forward to going home. 'We're so excited for this moment,' Jones said. 'He is in good spirits. He has the soul of a warrior.' After being released from USP Coleman, a high-security prison, Peltier planned to return to North Dakota, where he is expected to celebrate with friends and family on Wednesday. Biden commuted Peltier's sentence Jan. 20, noting he had spent most of his life in prison and was now in poor health. 'We never thought he would get out,' Ray St. Clair, a member of the White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, said shortly before Peltier's release. 'It shows you should never give up hope. We can take this repairing the damage that was done. This is a start.' Advertisement Peltier, an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians in North Dakota, was active in the American Indian Movement, which beginning in the 1960s fought for Native American treaty rights and tribal self-determination. The group grabbed headlines in 1969 when activists occupied the former prison island of Alcatraz in the San Francisco Bay, and again in 1972, when they presented presidential candidates with a list of demands including the restoration of tribal land. After they were ignored, they seized the headquarters of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. From then on, the group was subject to FBI surveillance and harassment under a covert program that sought to disrupt activism and was exposed in 1975. Peltier's conviction stemmed from a confrontation that year on the Oglala Sioux Indian Reservation in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, in which FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams were killed. According to the FBI, the agents were there to serve arrest warrants for robbery and assault with a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors maintained at trial that Peltier shot both agents in the head at point-blank range. Peltier acknowledged being present and firing a gun at a distance, but he said he fired in self-defense. A woman who claimed to have seen Peltier shoot the agents later recanted her testimony, saying it had been coerced. He was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and given two consecutive life sentences. Two other movement members, co-defendants Robert Robideau and Dino Butler, were acquitted on the grounds of self-defense. Peltier was denied parole as recently as July and was not eligible to be considered for it again until 2026. 'Leonard Peltier's release is the right thing to do given the serious and ongoing human rights concerns about the fairness of his trial, his nearly 50 years behind bars, his health and his age,' Paul O'Brien, executive director with Amnesty International USA, said in a statement before Peltier's release. 'While we welcome his release from prison, he should not be restricted to home confinement.' Advertisement Prominent Native American groups like the National Congress of the American Indian have called for Peltier's release for decades, and Amnesty International considered him a political prisoner. Prominent supporters over the years included South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, civil rights icon Coretta Scott King, actor and director Robert Redford and musicians Pete Seeger, Harry Belafonte and Jackson Browne. Generations of Indigenous activists and leaders lobbied multiple presidents to pardon Peltier. Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna and the first Native American to hold the secretary's position, praised Biden's decision. 'I am grateful that Leonard can now go home to his family,' she said Jan. 20 in a post on X. 'I applaud President Biden for this action and understanding what this means to Indian Country.' As a young child, Peltier was taken from his family and sent to a boarding school. Thousands of Indigenous children over decades faced the same fate, and were in many cases subjected to systemic physical, psychological and sexual abuse. 'He hasn't really had a home since he was taken away to boarding school,' said Nick Tilsen, who has been advocating for Peltier's release since he was a teen and is CEO of NDN Collective, an Indigenous-led advocacy group based in South Dakota. 'So he is excited to be at home and paint and have grandkids running around.' Advertisement ___ Brewer reported from Norman, Oklahoma.
