On Monday, March 30 a federal judge issued a landmark decision affirming that officials in South Dakota violated numerous provisions in the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and denied Indian parents their rights under the Due Process Clause of the Constitution. Referencing widespread and systemic failure to protect the integrity of Indian families, Judge Jeffrey Viken issued a partial summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs in Oglala Sioux Tribe v. Luann Van Hunnik on seven issues before the court regarding emergency removal hearings, also known as “48-hour hearings,” in Pennington County, South Dakota.
Read the full article at the Indian Country Today Media Network website.
Read an opinion piece by attorney Stephen Pevar at the ACLU website.
Read related coverage at the NPR website, the People’s World website, and Indianz.com.
See court documents at Turtle Talk.