Baby Girl Update 2

Updates in the Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl Ongoing Adoption Case

The legal battle continues in the Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl case. As previously reported, the South Carolina Supreme Court has remanded (sent) the case back to the Family Law Court with strict instruction to proceed with the adoption of Baby Girl Veronica by the adoptive parents. Veronica’s father, Dusten Brown and the Cherokee Nation filed a request for reconsideration with the South Carolina Court, which was denied on July 24, 2013.

On the same day Veronica’s biological mother filed a complaint in the Federal District Court of South Carolina against Attorney General Eric Holder seeking a declaration that the Indian Child Welfare Act was unconstitutional.

On July 25, 2013 Dusten Brown and the Cherokee Nation filed a request with the United States Supreme Court seeking a stay of the South Carolina Supreme Court order and requesting the Supreme Court to order the state court to conduct a “best interest of the child” hearing before a final adoption order is issued. The Supreme Court has ordered the adoptive parents to file a response to the request to stay by Friday August 2, 2013.

The National Congress of American Indians, the Native American Rights Fund and the National Indian Child Welfare Association have issued a “Statement of Support for Protection of the Right of Baby Veronica and All Children to a Hearing to Determine Their Best Interest”. All tribes, tribal organization and interested parties are encouraged to read and sign the Statement by contacting Thom Wallace, Senior Director of Communications at NCAI at twallace@ncai.org – include in your email your intention to support and the following information: the name of the executive of your organization/supporting entity, title, and organization.

California Indian Legal Services will continue to keep you updated on the development in the Baby Girl case.

Baby Girl Update post- Supreme Court Decision

New Developments in the Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl Ongoing Adoption Case

There have been major developments is the Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl (Veronica) case since it was remanded to the South Carolina Supreme Court. On July 17, 2013 the South Carolina Court ordered the Family Law Court to proceed with the adoption of Veronica by the adoptive parents. The South Carolina Court order bars the Family Law Court from holding any further proceedings to determine what is in the “best interest” of the Veronica and that the Family Law Court is not to entertain any further objections filed by the parties opposing the adoption. This ruling seems to clear the path for the adoptive couple to adopt Veronica. The Cherokee Tribe and Dusten Brown, Veronica’s biological father, have petitioned the South Carolina Court to reconsider its order and remand the case to the Family Law Court for a hearing on the “best interest” of Veronica given the changed circumstances of the case.

In addition to filing a petition for reconsideration with the South Carolina Court, Dusten Brown and his wife filed for adoption of Veronica in Oklahoma state court and Dusten’s wife and his parents also filed for adoption in the Cherokee Nation’s Tribal Court. On July 23, 2013 the Tribal Court issued an order granting Dusten’s wife and his parents joint custody of Veronica. The Tribal Court’s order was necessary due to the fact that Dusten has been mandated to attend National Guard training as of July 22, 2013.

Also in response to the South Carolina Court’s order, the Native American Rights Fund, the National Congress of American Indians and the National Indian Child Welfare Association have vowed to assist the Brown family and the Cherokee Nation in protecting Veronica’s civil rights. NARF, Executive Director John Echohawk confirmed, “… I have instructed my legal staff to work with local counsel in South Carolina and Oklahoma to determine our best legal recourse through the federal courts to protect the rights of Baby Veronica. In this case, we strongly believe that federal civil rights laws are being violated….”

California Indian Legal Services will continue to keep you updated on the developments in the Baby Girl case.

Announcing

Our New Executive Director

Dorothy ED

 

Senior Staff Attorney, Dorothy Alther has been selected as the new Executive Director for California Indian Legal Services.

Upon accepting the position Ms. Alther noted,

I am honored to have been offered this opportunity to continue to work for CILS in a new capacity. I look forward to the challenges and rewards that come with being the Executive Director of a program that has a long history of serving California Tribes, tribal members and tribal communities.

My vision for CILS is to encourage and support my attorney and advocate staff to be at the forefront of issues facing our client community. Working collectively as a team we can make a difference. By helping build strong tribal infrastructure we can help tribes and the members of the community address problems without having to resort to outside governments for assistance. We will also remain committed to helping individual tribal members with legal problems that impact their health and welfare. CILS will remain a vital resource to our tribal community and continue to provide them top quality legal services.

DOROTHY ALTHER

Dorothy Alther has been an attorney with CILS for over 20 years and was in the Bishop CILS Office until she relocated to the Escondido Office in 2003. Her current work focuses on tribal issues including environmental law, housing law, tribal ordinance development, and tribal recognition. Dorothy serves as legal counsel for tribes and tribal entities, and works with tribal courts, tribal law enforcement development, and a variety of other tribal matters. Ms. Alther has been a trainer on Public Law 280, the Indian Child Welfare Act, housing law and civil and criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country. Dorothy is a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and graduated from University of South Dakota and earned her J.D. from Northeastern University. Ms. Alther served as Managing Attorney at DNA’s People’s Legal Services in Crownpoint, New Mexico prior to coming to CILS and served as a Tribal Attorney for the Suquamish Tribe in Washington.

In 2010, Dorothy was a recipient of the Pierce-Hickerson Award. Which honors outstanding contributions to the advancement or preservation of Native American rights. Her current work includes two cases now at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals; one which will have significant impact in the area of funding tribal law enforcement under an Indian Self-Determination and Educational Assistance Act contract and the other addresses whether Congress has waived tribal immunity under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

CILS

The last ten years have been especially productive for CILS. The organization instituted various work groups to address issues specific to Native Americans, including the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and the American Indian Probate Reform Act (AIPRA). Out of a concern for Native families, CILS and other Native advocates fought the “existing Indian family” exception which would have allowed ICWA to apply only in cases where the Indian children have significant political, cultural or social ties to the tribes. CILS supported the enactment of California Senate Bill 678 which codified federal law into California statutes – ensuring that ICWA’s protections appear in state law. Similarly, CILS advocated for a California-specific provision in the AIPRA to allow for Natives with unique Public Domain trust land interests to devise land in Indian Wills.

Tribal law enforcement and tribal courts have, in recent years, flourished within California tribal communities. CILS has led the way with trainings and conferences for California tribes developing their judicial systems. CILS work includes organizing five annual statewide tribal court conferences, drafting numerous tribal codes including peace and security codes, moderating tribal police chief meetings, hosting tribal law enforcement roundtables and offering other tribal justice assistance.

Moving into the future CILS continues to stay attuned to the changing needs of Native communities in California. Today, four field offices (Bishop, Escondido, Eureka, and Sacramento) staffed by advocates including attorneys, paralegals and intake workers serve all fifty eight counties throughout California as well as tribes outside the state.

For additional information, please contact CILS at contactcils@calindian.org.

CILS staffer passes Bar

Congratulations to one of our own!

Congratulations go out to one of California’s newest attorneys – Jedd Parr. Jedd has worked for CILS since 2005 when he first volunteered in CILS’ Bishop office doing general office work. In time his responsibilities grew and he assisted many clients with intake and other direct services. While at CILS Jedd began his law school career and recently graduated from Northwestern California University in 2012. Jedd recently passed the California Bar Exam and is now a full-fledged member of the California State Bar.