{"id":161712,"date":"2023-06-15T14:46:20","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T21:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=161712"},"modified":"2023-06-15T14:46:20","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T21:46:20","slug":"attorney-general-bonta-applauds-u-s-supreme-court-for-upholding-key-law-protecting-rights-of-native-american-children-families-and-tribes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=161712","title":{"rendered":"Attorney General Bonta Applauds U.S. Supreme Court for Upholding Key Law Protecting Rights of Native American Children, Families, and Tribes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oakland, CA…California Attorney General Rob Bonta today applauded a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court\u00a0rejecting\u00a0a constitutional challenge\u00a0to longstanding protections guaranteed to Native American children, their families, and tribal communities under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). In August 2022, Attorney General Bonta led a bipartisan coalition of 24 attorneys general in filing an\u00a0amicus brief<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Haaland v. Brackeen\u00a0<\/em>urging the U.S. Supreme Court to\u00a0uphold the law.\u00a0ICWA\u00a0is a critical framework for managing state-tribal relations, protecting the rights of Native American children, and preventing the\u00a0unwarranted\u00a0removal\u00a0of Native American children from their families and tribal communities.<\/p>\n

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\u201cToday\u2019s decision is a victory for Native American families,\u201d\u00a0said Attorney General Bonta<\/b>. \u201cI applaud the U.S. Supreme Court for upholding\u00a0the Indian Child Welfare Act, and rejecting a challenge to the\u00a0law. ICWA\u00a0will continue to safeguard Native American children so that they can remain with their families, connected to their culture and as part of their respective tribes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Congress enacted\u00a0ICWA\u00a0in response to a serious and pervasive problem: States\u00a0and private parties were initiating state child-custody proceedings that removed Native American children from the custody of their parents \u2013 often without good cause \u2013 and placed them in the custody of non-tribal adoptive and foster homes. That practice not only harmed children, their families, and their tribal communities, it also posed an existential threat to the continuity and vitality of Indian tribes. To address this, Congress established minimum federal standards governing the removal of Native American children who are members of federally recognized tribes, or eligible for such membership, from their families.\u00a0ICWA\u2019s provisions safeguard the rights of Native American children, parents, and tribes in state child-custody proceedings, and seek to promote the placement of Native American children with members of their extended families or with other tribal homes. The law\u2019s approach is tailored to the unique status\u00a0of Native Americans as a sovereign entity with their own political institutions. In the more than four decades since Congress enacted\u00a0ICWA, the statute has become the foundation of state-tribal relations in the realm of child custody and family services.<\/p>\n

In the amicus brief filed last August, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argued that:<\/p>\n