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Attorney: Richard
Guest, John Echohawk
Case Update
Through the Judicial Selection Project of the Tribal Sovereignty Protection Initiative, the Native American Rights Fund continues its work with the National Congress of American Indians in researching the backgrounds and evaluating the records of judicial nominees to the U.S. District Courts, the U.S. Courts of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court whose decisions will have a direct impact on Indian tribes and Indian people.
As reported earlier, the Project continues to seek opportunities
to educate the federal judiciary and to provide opportunities for federal judges
to meet with tribal judges. In August 2007, staff attended the American Bar
Association Judicial Division Standing Committee on Minorities in the Judiciary
workshop on Achieving
a Diverse Judiciary: the Path to Becoming a Judge. In September 2007,
staff attended the ABA's Appellate Judges Education Institute 2007 Summit
for Appellate Judges, Lawyers and Staff Attorneys. In November 2007, at the
NCAI Annual Conference in Denver, Chief Judge Robert Henry, U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, addressed the tribal leader plenary session,
and was joined by Judge Harris Hartz and Judge Neil Gorsuch for an open panel
discussion with the Litigation and Governance Committee chaired by John Echohawk..
In December 2007, Tribal leaders and attorneys from NARF and NCAI were invited
by Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit,
to have lunch and meet with over 30 active appellate judges during their
business meeting in Pasadena, California. We are presently looking at similar
opportunities in 2008.
The Project is seeking to establish a network of tribal and federal judges through active participation at these judicial conferences and seeking opportunities to further educate the federal judiciary about Indian law and tribal sovereignty. In addition, we are working with the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to ensure that all nominees are asked about their experience with Indian tribes and their understanding of federal Indian law during confirmation proceedings. The Project is developing a primer on Indian tribes and federal Indian law for distribution to all newly appointed members of the federal judiciary who have Indian tribes in their jurisdiction.
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