A view of the village of Minto, a federally recognized tribe in Alaska. Photo by JKBrooks85 / Wikipedia
Newspaper comments on Alaska Supreme Court decision that recognizes tribal court authority in Indian Child Welfare Act cases:
Friday’s decision by the Alaska Supreme Court that tribal courts have jurisdiction in child custody cases when one of the parents does not belong to the tribe is a landmark in the hotly contested issue of tribal sovereignty. In the case, parents Edward Parks and Bessie Stearman sought to overturn the Minto Tribal Court’s ruling that their child should be placed in foster care. The tribal court had held that the children were better off out of Parks and Stearman’s custody because of a history of domestic violence in the home. The state joined the case on the side of Parks and Stearman, arguing the state superior court and not tribal courts had jurisdiction since Parks was from Stevens Village and not Minto. But the state Supreme Court ruled that since both Stearman and her child were registered as members of the Minto tribe, that court did indeed have authority to rule in the case. The decision is a big win for those seeking more tribal autonomy in justice issues, and goes farther in granting authority to tribal courts than at any previous point in the state’s history. The decision follows a scathing report last year from the federal Indian Law and Order Commission, which slammed the state justice system for being too centralized and unresponsive to rural communities. The commission wrote that the state’s “centralized administration falls short of local needs.”Get the Story:
Editorial: A new frontier in Alaska justice: Supreme Court decision expands tribal jurisdiction (The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner 7/20) Alaska Supreme Court Decision:
Simmonds v. Parks (July 18, 2014)
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