ICWA Faces Another Supreme Court Challenge, Three Years After Brackeen Was Decided
ICT reports that a new petition has reached the U.S. Supreme Court asking the justices to overturn the Indian Child Welfare Act as unconstitutional, just three years after the Court upheld ICWA in Brackeen v. Haaland. The new challenge appears to come from a different doctrinal angle, and the current Court's composition makes the outcome genuinely uncertain in a way it was not before. This is a story to watch closely: ICWA is the floor beneath tribal child welfare programs across the country, and another round of Supreme Court litigation would consume enormous tribal legal resources regardless of outcome.