Preemption, Commandeering, and the Indian Child Welfare Act

The Supreme Court has agreed to review constitutional challenges to the Indian Child Welfare Act brought by the State of Texas and three non-Indian foster families in the October 2022 Term. We argue that the anticommandeering challenges against ICWA are unfounded because all provisions of ICWA provides a set of legal standards to be applied in state which validly and expressly preempt state law without unlawfully commandeering the States’ executive or legislative branches.

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Using Peacemaking Circles to Indigenize Tribal Child Welfare

This Article outlines the ways in which the modern tribal child welfare system has been structured to compartmentalize families and perpetuate historical federal policies of Indian family separation. This Article then suggests that circle processes are a framework for re-Indigenizing the tribal child welfare system to not just improve outcomes, but to also honor the interconnected, responsibility oriented worldview of Indigenous communities.

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In Loco Parentis, the First Amendment, and Parental Rights—Can they Coexist in Public Schools?

A debate taking place throughout the United States in school board meetings, state legislatures, and the public square—is the simple question of what happens, from a legal perspective, when a parent drops their child off at a public school. This Article proposes a framework whereby in loco parentis and the constitutional rights of students and parents can coexist at public schools

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Torts in the American Law Institute

This Article suggests that, in the domain of tort law, The American Law Institute has had important successes when proceeding in the manner of an appellate court, and has courted trouble when operating in the other modes.

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