SUPREME COURT THREATENS TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY WITH NEW ATTACK ON INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT

“At every turn, they side with the privileged and powerful over everyone else”

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (November 8, 2022) — Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in four cases, consolidated under Haaland v. Brackeen, where the Court will threaten the well-being of Native children and undermine tribal sovereignty. The Court has positioned itself to eliminate nearly half a century of legal protections under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and open the door for Native children to be ripped away from their families, tribes, and cultures in adoption and custody proceedings.

In anticipation of the arguments, Take Back the Court released the following statement on behalf of its executive director, Sarah Lipton-Lubet:

“In one fell swoop, the right-wing Supreme Court could undermine tribal sovereignty, defang the Indian Child Welfare Act — a crucial decades-old law helping prevent the harmful separation of Native kids from their families — and put countless Native children’s well-being at risk. These right-wing justices don’t value the rights of Native kids to grow up with their families and tribes and in their own cultures. They don’t care about the importance of tribal sovereignty or the precedent demanding it. At every turn they side with the privileged and powerful over everyone else. We can’t let them continue to trample our freedom and our values. In order to restore and protect our rights and safeguard our futures, we have to expand the Court.”

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Take Back the Court raises awareness about the urgent need to expand the number of seats on the Supreme Court to address the theft of the court by Senator Mitch McConnell during the Obama Administration. Without adding seats, Congress will not be able to restore the right to vote, ensure reproductive freedom, protect workers, halt our climate emergency, or pass new legislation. Court expansion, which can be accomplished without a constitutional amendment, is the only reform that enables the un-rigging of the system and the restoration of democracy. Learn more: https://www.takebackthecourt.today/