July 08, 2021
The U.S. Supreme Court handed down decisions on tribal police authority over non-Indians, Native American voting rights in Arizona, and Alaska Native corporations' eligibility for COVID-19 relief funds, while the full Fifth Circuit rejected a lower court's move to strike down the entire Indian Child Welfare Act.
June 28, 2021
The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to federally recognized tribes by ruling Alaska Native corporations are entitled to hundreds of millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief, but any broader effects may be constrained by the justices' insistence that the companies are distinct from sovereign governments, as well as a desire to keep treating Alaska as a special case in Indian law.
June 25, 2021
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned a D.C. Circuit decision that Alaska Native corporations can't receive part of $8 billion in COVID-19 relief funding, saying they qualify as "Indian tribes" under the CARES Act.
April 21, 2021
Sixteen Native American tribes have told the U.S. Supreme Court that preserving a D.C. Circuit decision blocking Alaska Native corporations from receiving certain COVID-19 relief funding would not leave Alaska Natives short of health care and other services, after some justices showed concern on that score during oral arguments this week.
April 19, 2021
The U.S. Supreme Court's most recently appointed justices worried Monday about how leaving Alaska Native corporations out of federal COVID-19 funding could undermine the application of federal laws in Alaska and limit health care for Alaska Natives, potentially giving the corporations an edge in their bid for hundreds of millions of dollars to fight the pandemic.
March 01, 2021
An Alaska Native corporation urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to overturn a D.C. Circuit decision that ANCs can't have a share of $8 billion in COVID-19 relief meant for Native American tribal governments, saying the ruling could upend health services for Alaska Natives amid the pandemic.
January 08, 2021
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to take up challenges by the federal government and Alaska Native corporations to a D.C. Circuit decision that the ANCs can't share in $8 billion in COVID-19 relief intended for Native American tribal governments.
December 21, 2020
Federally recognized tribes won a D.C. Circuit decision that Alaska Native corporations aren't eligible for certain COVID-19 funding, the U.S. Supreme Court cemented tribes' rights to reservations under their treaties, and two tribes had a hand in fighting against the federal government's effort to shorten the census.
December 18, 2020
Three groups of Native American tribes have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject challenges to a D.C. Circuit decision that Alaska Native corporations can't share in $8 billion in COVID-19 relief, saying the case doesn't hinge on language the CARES Act borrows from a federal contracting law.
November 19, 2020
Alaska's members of Congress have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a D.C. Circuit ruling that Alaska Native corporations don't qualify for a share of $8 billion in COVID-19 relief, saying an appeals panel "superimposed the Lower 48 model of Indian tribe on Alaska" and denying funding during the pandemic threatens Alaska Natives' health.