The Supreme Court on Thursday handed a major win to Native Americans by rejecting a challenge to a federal law aimed at protecting children and buttressing tribal identity.
In a 7-2 vote, the court turned away a series of claims seeking to invalidate parts of the Indian Child Welfare Act enacted in 1978 to keep Native American children within tribes. Among the provisions challenged was one that gives preference to Native Americans seeking to foster or adopt Native American children.
President Joe Biden said in a statement that the decision “keeps in place a vital protection for tribal sovereignty and Native children.”
The court, in a ruling authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, said the challengers did not have legal standing to contest whether the preference provisions violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment by discriminating on the basis of race.
Barrett wrote that the challengers had sued the federal government, but noted that it is state courts that enforce the preference provisions and that state agencies place the children. Therefore their claims could not be redressed by the federal government and must be dismissed, she said.
Emphasizing that the race discrimination issue is still undecided, conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a concurring opinion that it is a “serious” question that the court should decide in a subsequent case.
The majority did, however, conclude that Congress has the authority to legislate on the issue of Native American family law and rejected challenges on those grounds.
Barrett wrote that the challengers were seeking a “constitutional carveout” saying Congress cannot legislate on family law, but that since the founding of the United States, it has been clear that Congress has broad authority to pass laws on a wide range of issues.
“Family law is no exception,” she said.
The ruling came as a major relief to tribes, who were concerned that the court would weaken or entirely strike down a law that plays an important role in maintaining tribal identity.
“It was a big sigh of relief, just that 7-to-2 vote,” said Buu Nygren, president of Navajo Nation. “I think that really showcases what the Supreme Court justices think about Indian Country.”
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