The conservative
Goldwater Institute is attacking the
Indian Child
Welfare Act again.
The group has asked the
U.S. Supreme Court to hear an ICWA case from California. The petition in
Renteria v. Superior Court of California, Tulare County claims the 1978 law is based on "race" and should be deemed unconstitutional.
"To understand what is at stake here, consider the rules ICWA imposes on cases involving Indian children—and how those rules differ from state law standards" the
November 27 petition reads.
"Compared to California’s race-neutral law of child welfare, ICWA’s rules provide children with less protection and make it harder to find them the safe, loving adoptive homes they need."
The case comes in a custody dispute over three girls whose parents were killed in a December 2015 crash. The girls' father,
Matthew
Cuellar, was a citizen of the
Shingle Springs
Band of Miwok Indians, The Fresno Bee reported.
The tribe asserted jurisdiction over the placement of the children but non-Indian relatives of the girls sought custody instead. In February, a judge in California agreed that ICWA applied to the case.
"It is undisputed that father here was a member of an Indian tribe. It is also undisputed that the children are members of a tribe or eligible to be members of a tribe," Judge Nathan D. Ide
wrote in the order.
"Finally, there is no dispute that father maintained contact and custody of the children from birth until his untimely death," Ide continued.
Efrim and Talisha Renteria, who have set up a
"tribalpredator" website that attempts to associate the tribe with violence and crime, appealed the order but were rebuffed. That's when the Goldwater Institute, which has attacked ICWA in other courts around the nation, jumped in with the Supreme Court petition.
Those efforts have been largely unsuccessful. But the tribe will still have to answer to the petition -- a response is due December 29, according to
Docket No. 17-789.
In addition to seeking custody of the girls, the Renterias are claiming the children are not Miwok. They cite DNA tests that allegedly showed the girls had "Taino" and "Cherokee" blood, The Bee reported.
The Renterias are also claiming to have "Apache," "Blackfoot" and "Taino" blood, the paper said. They
previously told they paper they are "American Indian" by blood.
The Supreme Court's last ICWA case was
Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl.
By a 5 to 4 vote, the justices held that the law did not apply to the case of a child from the
Cherokee Nation because they said the Cherokee father never had custody.
The Renterias relied heavily on the June 2013 ruling but Judge Ide said the situation involving the Shingle Springs girls and their father was different.
Read More on the Story:
Tribe fighting for custody of orphaned children might be Hawaiian, court papers say
(The Fresno Bee December 8, 2017)
Federal Register Notices for Indian Child Welfare Act:
Indian
Child Welfare Act; Designated Tribal Agents for Service of Notice (March 8,
2017)
Indian
Child Welfare Act Proceedings (June 14, 2016)
Regulations
for State Courts and Agencies in Indian Child Custody Proceedings (March 30,
2015)
Guidelines
for State Courts and Agencies in Indian Child Custody Proceedings (February
25, 2015)
Join the Conversation
Related Stories
'Stand
up, fight back!' -- Annual march to honor lost Native children continues
(November 23, 2017)
Cronkite
News: Tribal advocates welcome action on Indian Child Welfare Act case
(November 1, 2017)
Supreme
Court won't take up race-based challenge to Indian Child Welfare Act
(October 30, 2017)
Non-Indian
parents file lawsuit to halt transfer of child custody cases to tribes
(October 11, 2017)
Conservative
group launches another attack on Indian Child Welfare Act (July 24,
2017)
Mary
Annette Pember: The Indian Child Welfare Act strengthens our families (June
22, 2017)
Trump
injects 'race' into debate with questions about Indian funding (May 8,
2017)
Mary
Annette Pember: Indian Child Welfare Act heals our families (April 25,
2017)
Mona
Evans: Creek Nation fails to support Indian Child Welfare Act (March 27,
2017)
Indian
Child Welfare Act survives attack from conservative groups (March 21, 2017)
Shingle
Springs Band asserts jurisdiction in child welfare dispute (October 31,
2016)