Current News, Events, Updates And Articles
We keep our blog up-to-date with the latest information about our services, special programs, projects, and resources. This includes funding opportunities, legal briefs, and Tribal Alerts that are important for our community. You will also find self-help materials on our blog that provide insights into federal Indian law, its components, and its practical applications.
Supreme Court Ruling Confirms Tribal Inherent Authority and Makes Tribal Communities Safer
By Dorothy Alther, CILS Executive Director On June 1, 2021, the Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, issued its ruling in U.S. v. Cooley finding that tribes have inherent authority to stop non-Indians on a right-of-way within the boundaries of an Indian reservation...
Historical Perspective: CILS’ Protection of Tribal Fishing Rights
By Jay Petersen, CILS Sacramento office Senior Staff Attorney Over the years, CILS has played an important role in protecting Tribal fishing rights against large-scale irrigation, hydroelectric power, and surface water storage needs. In the 1980’s, California and the...
California Stimulus Check
By Ryan Buuck, LMU Loyola Law School, J.D./M.B.A. Dual Degree Candidate Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a new economic recovery package that will include $12 billion of direct payments to residents of the State of California. These payments will be like the...
AB 1869 – Eliminating Criminal Adminstrative Fees
This bill repeals the authority to collect many of these fees, among others. The bill makes the unpaid balance of these court-imposed costs unenforceable and uncollectible and requires any portion of a judgment imposing those costs to be vacated. If you qualify or...
Native American Ancestry: Family Lore, Oral Swabs, and Enrollment Cards
By Mark Vezzola, CILS Escondido office Directing Attorney Have you ever heard someone claim their great-grandmother was a Cherokee princess? Or that their ancestors include the Lakota holy man Sitting Bull? Until recently, most of what people knew about their...
CILS Brackeen News Flash
On April 6, 2021, an en banc panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal decided Brackeen v. Haaland, a case challenging the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). Read the full decision here. The good news is (1) this decision does not apply in...
TRIBAL ALERT – Tribes Disqualified from ARP Public Safety and Justice Funding
To All Tribal Leaders; The BIA is proposing to set aside $772.5 million dollars of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) appropriation for “public safety and justice (PSJ)”. This set aside will be distributed “based on the existing allocation of base (reoccurring annual)...
When Does the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) Apply?
By Kia Murdoch, CILS Sacramento office Staff Attorney ICWA provides protections for Indian children in State Court “Child Custody Proceedings.” The ICWA is a federal law that provides procedures to protect “the best interests of Indian children and promote the...
Efforts at Justice for Missing and Murdered Native Women
By Jedd Parr, CILS Sacramento office Directing Attorney Over the last several years, the prevalence of violence suffered by Native Americans, particularly at the hands of non-Indian perpetrators, has finally become more widely acknowledged. Violence affects both men...
Changes To CILS Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Legal Services During COVID
By Susan Dalati, CILS Escondido office Staff Attorney The CILS Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault (“DV/SA”) Legal Advocacy Program is housed CILS' Escondido office and is comprised of an attorney and legal advocate. Due to the pandemic, the DV/SA Program staff began...