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Icwa And The Commerce Clause, Matthew L.M. Fletcher
Icwa And The Commerce Clause, Matthew L.M. Fletcher
Matthew L.M. Fletcher
Congress enacted the Indian Child Welfare Act, it said, in accordance with its authority under the Indian Commerce Clause and because it has assumed responsibility over Indian affairs. But under the line of cases developed by the Rehnquist Court, the Court takes a very dim view of Congressional authority under the Commerce Clause, while resurrecting the Tenth Amendment from its stasis as a “truism.” At least one Justice asserts that there is nothing in the Constitution that authorizes Congress to assume authority over Indian affairs to the exclusion of the Executive branch or the states. This paper argues that, despite …
The New Federal Indian Law, Matthew L.M. Fletcher
The New Federal Indian Law, Matthew L.M. Fletcher
Matthew L.M. Fletcher
While many scholars suggest that the Court’s conservative views drive these Indian law decisions and criticize the Court for failing to follow foundational principles of federal Indian law, in this article I hope to show that the Court’s reasons for granting certiorari and for deciding against tribal interests in these cases are not Indian law-related. Instead, the Court identifies important, unrelated constitutional concerns that appear to arise more frequently in Indian law cases, decides those matters, and only then turns to the federal Indian law questions. Once the Court disposes of the important constitutional concern in its analysis, the Court’s …