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Full-Text Articles in Law
“Magic Words” And Original Understanding: An Amplified Clear Statement Rule To Abrogate Tribal Sovereign Immunity, Justin W. Aimonetti
“Magic Words” And Original Understanding: An Amplified Clear Statement Rule To Abrogate Tribal Sovereign Immunity, Justin W. Aimonetti
Pepperdine Law Review
The Indian plenary power doctrine—an invention of the late nineteenth-century Supreme Court—grants Congress exclusive authority to legislate with respect to Indian tribes, including the ability to abrogate tribal sovereign immunity. Under current doctrine, Congress must “unequivocally express” its intent to abrogate the sovereign immunity of Indian tribes with “explicit legislation.” Circuit courts tasked with applying this standard have split on the level of textual specificity required to strip tribes of their immunity. Employing the tools of statutory construction, courts are divided over whether the term ‘domestic government,’ as found in Section 106 of the Bankruptcy Code, unequivocally covers Indian tribes. …
Icwa’S Irony, Marcia A. Yablon-Zug
Icwa’S Irony, Marcia A. Yablon-Zug
Faculty Publications
The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is a federal statute that protects Indian children by keeping them connected to their families and culture. The Act’s provisions include support for family reunification, kinship care preferences, cultural competency considerations and community involvement. These provisions parallel national child welfare policies. Nevertheless, the Act is relentlessly attacked as a law that singles out Indian children for unique and harmful treatment. This is untrue but, ironically, it will be if challenges to the ICWA are successful. To prevent this from occurring, the defense of the Act needs to change. For too long, this defense has …