A Victory for Native American Sovereignty Podcast

Summary

This podcast, in Law360's The Term series, discusses a recent U.S. Supreme Court case (Haaland v. Brackeen) in which the court held that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), a 1978 federal law designed to stop the state and federal practice of removing Native American children from their communities, did not illegally interfere with state authority in regulating child custody programs. The case was recognized as a victory for the Native American community in that the court upheld the goals of the ICWA over a Texas law. The ICWA established three preferences for the placement of Native children who are adopted or placed in foster care: (1) placement with the child's extended family, (2) placement with other members of the child's tribe, or (3) placement with members of another tribe. 25 U.S.C. § 1915(a). The Texas law challenged the constitutionality of the ICWA's hierarchal child placement preferences over its state law.