“🏛️SCOTUS Gives a Thumbs Up👍 to ’78 Law, Keeping Native Kids with Tribal Famz! What’s Your Take?🤔”
TL;DR:
“The US Supreme Court gives the green light 🚦 to the ’78 Indian Child Welfare Act, which keeps Native American kids primarily in Native homes. Critics are calling it race-based, while supporters are hailing it as a victory for tribal sovereignty. 🌐 So, should family preservation beat out race concerns or vice versa?👨👩👧👦🆚🎨”
Hey all you truth seekers!🧐 Got a hot one for you today: The Supreme Court has just waved the checkered flag 🏁 on the Indian Child Welfare Act. This 1978 number prioritizes keeping Native American kids in Native homes when it comes to foster care and adoption. But hold up – not everyone’s breaking out the champagne. 🍾
Originally set up to address the worrying frequency of Native American kids being separated from their families and placed in non-Native homes, the act is now under fire. Why, you ask? Well, some folks – including certain Republican-led states and white families – argue it’s all about race, and we know how messy that can get. 🧩
But let’s not dismiss the other side of the coin. Tribal leaders stand firmly behind the act, viewing it as a lifeline for their families, traditions, and cultures. 🔗 After all, isn’t preserving one’s heritage a fundamental right? 🗺️
As per the court, Justice Amy Coney Barrett writes for a majority including both liberals and conservatives, that the “issues are complicated” but they’re giving a no-go to all challenges against the statute. However, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito ain’t playing ball, arguing this decision does a disservice to the kids’ rights and interests. So, who’s in the right here, folks? 🎯
Adding fuel to the fire 🔥, President Joe Biden – who was all for the law 45 years ago when he was a Delaware senator – released a statement highlighting the pain our nation’s history casts on the decision. He reminds us of the era when Native children were, in his words, “stolen from the arms of the people who loved them”. Tough to swallow, ain’t it? 😕
Let’s dig a bit deeper. The law requires states to let tribes know and look for placement with the child’s extended family, members of the child’s tribe, or other Native American families before anyone else. Seems pretty straight-forward, right? Well, not so fast! 🏃♂️💨
Detractors, including three white families and a few states led by Texas, call foul, insisting the law is race-based and goes against the equal protection clause. Moreover, they argue it puts the tribes ahead of the kids and grants the federal government too much juice over adoptions and foster placements – stuff that’s usually under state control. So, is this law really serving the kids, or is it playing favorites? ⚖️👨👧👦
The lead plaintiffs – the Brackeens from Fort Worth, Texas – have had their fair share of struggle, fighting the Navajo Nation to adopt a Native American child. Now, they’re trying to adopt the boy’s 5-year-old half-sister, with the Navajo Nation putting up a fight. Talk about a legal tug-of-war! 🥊
Just when you thought it couldn’t get messier, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was
