[21-376] Haaland v. Brackeen

Haaland v. Brackeen

Wikipedia · Justia · Docket · oyez.org

Argued on Nov 9, 2022.

Petitioner: Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior, et al..
Respondent: Chat Everet Brackeen.

Advocates:

• Matthew D. McGill (for Chad Everet Brackeen, et al.)
• Judd E. Stone, II (for Texas)
• Edwin S. Kneedler (for the federal parties)
• Ian H. Gershengorn (for the tribal parties)

Facts of the case (from oyez.org)

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), a federal law enacted in 1978, restricts the removal of Native American children from their families and establishes a preference that Native children who are removed from their families be placed with extended family members or Native foster homes.

Several individuals and states filed a lawsuit challenging the law as violating constitutional anti-commandeering principles of the Tenth Amendment. The plaintiffs include several couples who wished to adopt or foster Native children, a woman who wished for her Native biological child to be adopted by non-Natives, and the states of Texas, Louisiana, and Indiana.

The district court ruled for the plaintiffs, striking down portions of the  ICWA. The defendants appealed, and a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed. In a fractured ruling, the Fifth Circuit sitting en banc upheld portions of the district court’s decision and reversed other portions.

Question

Do the Indian Child Welfare Act’s restrictions on placement of Native American children violate anti-commandeering principles of the Tenth Amendment?