Category Archives: Professors

Student attorneys representing in Tribal Courts

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In September, Professor Patty Ferguson-Bohnee and the Indian Legal Clinic students Autumn Adams (3L), Clayton Kinsey (3L), Maryam Salazar (3L), Natalia Sells (3L), Sophie Staires (3L) and Alexandra Trousdale (3L) traveled to the Gila River Indian Community Courthouse in Sacaton, Arizona and observed arraignments in person.

While at the Court, the Clinic student attorneys were sworn in to the Gila River Indian Community Court by Chief Judge Anthony Hill (’06). Judge Charles Aragon led an informative tour during which the students met other judges and staff. Before visiting the courthouse, the student attorneys met with members of the Gila River Prosecutor’s Office. ILC student attorneys work with the Gila River Prosecutor’s Office on traffic trials. Staires was prepared to represent the Gila River Indian Community in a civil traffic trial, but exercised prosecutorial discretion after investigating the facts.

On Sept. 29, Kinsey, Sells and Trousdale made their first appearance in the Ak-Chin Indian Community Court with supervising attorney Kate Rosier, to represent defendants at arraignment hearings.

Kinsey and Trousdale share their student perspective with the ASU Indian Legal Clinic.

Kinsey: Getting the opportunity to take on cases through the Ak-Chin Tribal Court, as a defense student attorney, is some of the most meaningful work I’ve done in law school. We get to work directly with real clients that are often facing substantial consequences if convicted. It’s a pleasure to provide them legal assistance while gaining real-world experience.

I would advise anyone considering a clinic to jump right in. In two months, I’ve learned so much about the courtroom, evidentiary proceedings, and working with actual clients. Working in Tribal Courts is something that so few law schools offer—I feel privileged to attend a law school that prioritizes such a connection to the surrounding Tribal communities.

Trousdale: Practicing in tribal court as a law student is a great experience. As someone who wants to be a litigator in tribal court, my experience in the clinic gives me time and experience to learn about the process, procedures and practice before entering my career. I enjoy having the opportunity to work with real clients. It helps prepare me for different situations I may face when I begin working. As well, it gives me a better understanding of applying the law to different cases.

My advice for future clinic students is to go in with an open mind. There are a lot of valuable learning experiences in the clinic. You may have an idea of the kind of work you want to do after school, but the clinic can show you other fields of work you may enjoy that you have otherwise not considered or ruled out completely.

On Oct. 5, Salazar made her first appearance with supervising attorney Ferguson-Bohnee, also to represent a defendant at an arraignment hearing. 

The Indian Legal Clinic appreciates the Gila River Indian Community and Ak-Chin Indian Community for providing clinic students formative career experiences.

Building power to Native American law

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Business Today news named three of your ILP family in “Highlighting 10 Top Influential Native American Law Lawyers in Arizona 2023.” Congratulations to ILP Advisory Council Member Judith Dworkin, ILC Director Patty Ferguson-Bohnee and Professor Pilar Thomas!

For their expertise in Indian Law at Sacks Tierney, attorneys Dworkin, Ferguson-Bohnee and Roxann Gallagher (’02) were also recognized by Chambers and Partners in the 2023 USA edition.

Indigenizing the legal profession

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The ILP teamed up with its Native American Pathway to Law Initiative partners – University of California, Berkeley School of Law’s Admissions Office, Michigan State University College of Law’s Indigenous Law and Policy Center and Pre-Law Summer Institute, and American Indian Law Center, Inc. – and hosted its ninth annual Pathway to Law workshop at ASU Law. The program brought together 43 Native American students representing 30 tribes to learn about the law school admissions process, and tools and resources to support their law journey.  

Stacy Leeds, Willard H. Pedrick Dean and Regents Professor of Law, gave a warm welcome to the class, discussed brief Indian Law history, and shared her wisdom and tips. Patty Ferguson-Bohnee, ILP Faculty Director, also extended a hearty welcome to the students. 

Wenona Singel, Professor of Law and Associate Director of the Indigenous Law & Policy Center at Michigan State University (MSU Law) presented “Indigenizing the Legal Profession” and provided insight on Native American lawyers in the United States. 

Kristen Theis-Alvarez, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Berkeley Law, provided her expertise in several panels covering the law school admissions timeline and how to create a strong application packet.

To empower the students, Native law professionals Diandra Benally (’05), Torey Dolan (’19), Joseph Flies-Away (’04), Michelle Fox, Kiyoko Patterson (’03) and Denten Robinson presented on a panel “Why we need more Native attorneys.” Law students Gabe Dowell (2L), Keely Driscoll (2L), Shandiin Herrera (2L), Maryam Salazar (3L) and Berkeley Law 2L Robin Martinez shared their current experiences in law school during the panel presentation “Our journeys, in our own voices.” Both panel sessions were moderated by attorney Jeremy Aliason. 

Simon Goldenberg (’17) and Cassondra Church discussed an overview of law school in their presentation “3 years in a Nut Shell.” 

“One of the first courses you’re going to take in law school is Property Law,” said Professor Trevor Reed in his mock class. “It’s a complicated subject because it’s all about ownership.” Students were given cases to read and prepare for Professor Reed’s class and learned about briefing the case and best argument.

ILP Executive Director Kate Rosier and Theis-Alvarez co-presented “Choosing where to apply.” 

Pathway ICT Kate interview

During the Pathway to Law Workshop, Rosier joined Indian Country Today and talked about the history of the Native American Pathway to Law Initiative and positive outcomes of the program. 

Rodina Cave Parnall, Executive Director of the American Indian Law Center presented on “Extending the pipeline: an intro to PLSI.”

Joseph Lindsay, Director of Admissions and Operations at Berkeley Law, presented “Financial aid: resources and considerations for Native law students.”

We appreciate all of the partners, ILP faculty, staff and alumni, attorneys and law students for supporting these motivated Native American students and their bright future.

This was the largest workshop to date, congratulations to the Pathway to Law national team: Cassondra Church and Wenona Singel, Indigenous Law & Policy Center, Michigan State University College of Law; Joseph Lindsay and Kristin Theis-Alvarez, Berkeley Law; Rodina Cave Parnall (’01), American Indian Law Center, Inc.; and Kate Rosier, ILP at ASU Law.

2023 Native Vote recap

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The Arizona Native Vote Election Protection Project (the Project), as part of its work with ASU Law’s Indian Legal Clinic (ILC), focused on preparing for the 2022 midterm elections. ILC Director and Clinical Professor of Law Patty Ferguson-Bohnee and Native Vote Fellows Torey Dolan (’19), Blair Tarman-Toner (’21) and student attorneys worked on several issues: legislative tracking, community outreach, revisions to the Elections Procedures Manual, litigation and election protection.

Outreach

The ILC coordinated with Tribes, counties and voting rights organizations leading up to the 2022 elections. The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona (ITCA) hosted monthly strategy sessions bringing together these stakeholders to talk about ongoing democracy issues in Arizona. The Project regularly presented at these meetings on issues of proposed legislation, litigation, election results and data on voter engagement and access in Arizona Tribal communities.

Fellows Tarman-Toner and Dolan were active participants in other community coalitions including the Arizona Voting Rights Coalition, the Native American Voting Rights Coalition, the Arizona Election Advocacy Group, and Election Protection Arizona.

In March 2023, Ferguson-Bohnee was appointed by Governor Katie Hobbs to serve on the Governor’s Bipartisan Elections Task Force. The task force was created pursuant to Executive Order 2023-03 with the task of studying and making recommendations to strengthen election laws, policies, and procedures in the state of Arizona.

On April 17, Ferguson-Bohnee presented at the Federal Bar Association’s Indian Law Conference on the state of Native American Voting Rights. Ferguson-Bohnee spoke about the recent legislation passed in Arizona impacting voting rights, ongoing litigation and the Arizona Native Vote Election Protection Project’s 2022 program.

Litigation

ILC Director Patty Ferguson-Bohnee, Dolan, and Tarman-Toner responded to reports of a polling location in rural Pinal County that opened nearly four hours late on Election Day during the primaries. The ILC, along with the Lawyers’ Committee, filed a complaint and application for temporary restraining order on behalf of the Arizona Democracy Resource Center and Rural Arizona Engagement. The complaint sought declaratory and injunctive relief requesting that Pinal County extend the hours of operation in light of the delayed opening. Despite acknowledging the violation of law by failing to open for four hours thereby denying equal voting time for the voters in that precinct, the County failed to act. While the Court recognized that the harm was not de minimis, the Court failed to grant any relief. During the General Election, Arizona Native Vote Election Protection volunteers reported polling locations in Apache County that failed to open on time on Election Day. The ILC worked with the ACLU and Navajo Nation to file a complaint and application for temporary restraining order on behalf of the Navajo Nation, and the Court extended the time for the polling locations in Apache County to remain open. 

Midterm Election

The Arizona Native Vote Election Protection Project – Ferguson-Bohnee, Dolan, Tarman-Toner and ILC student attorneys Chad Edwards (3L), Brittany Habbart (3L), Michael LaValley (3L), Mallory Moore (3L), and Ruben Zendejas (3L), Autumn Shone (3L) and its partners – operated its Native Vote Election Protection Hotline throughout the early voting period and on Election Day during the 2022 Primary and General elections. In addition to operating the hotline for the General Election, the Project had 66 Election Protection Volunteers stationed at multiple polling locations across 9 Tribal communities. Review more in the ILP blog post: Your vote, your voice.

ILC student attorneys Moore and Shone led and conducted two training sessions for volunteers. After completing her final semester, Moore enjoyed working with the Project. “It was honestly one of the most difficult, time consuming, and rewarding things I have done in law school,” said she said. “I am so grateful to have had this opportunity because I feel like it was a great way to learn and grow as a person.”

“Thank you to Torey Dolan and Blair Tarman-Toner for answering every silly question I had about Native Vote and NNALSA Moot Court,” said Shone. 

2023 Elections Procedures Manual

The Arizona Native Vote Election Protection Project joined its voting partners to prepare comments, analysis and recommendations to the Secretary of State’s office on the proposed Election Procedures Manual (EPM). The EPM is a comprehensive source of law on the administration of state and federal elections in Arizona. The Project commented on the 2021 proposed EPM drafted by then Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and is similarly preparing comments for now Secretary of State Adrian Fontes.

Planning for 2024

During the Spring 2023 Semester, the ILC, including Student Attorney Kristina Major (2L) began to focus on planning for the 2024 Election Cycle.  The Clinic will continue to work with its partners throughout the summer to plan for the next election cycle. 

Legal Futures at the Navajo Nation Tuba City Court

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Indian Legal Clinic Director Patty Ferguson-Bohnee serves as a member of the Arizona Supreme Court Commission on Diversity, Equality and Justice. For the past few years, the Committee has hosted Legal Futures for high school students with an interest in the law to provide an opportunity for young students to interact with judges, attorneys, and other legal professionals and learn about the legal profession and pathways to the bench.

This year, it was the first collaboration between the Arizona Supreme Court and a Tribal Nation’s Court to host a “Legal Futures: Setting the Stage for Your Legal Career” in Indian Country. Ferguson-Bohnee with ILP alumni — Michael Bennett (’16), attorney for the Navajo Nation, Kris Beecher (’20), attorney at Dickinson Wright PLLC, Verrin Kewenvoyouma (’04), majority owner and managing partner of Kewenvoyouma Law, PLLC, — traveled to the Navajo Nation and shared their journey to law. Students learned that about different areas of law: government workers to court staff, private business to law firms, and quasi to utilities, water and universities.

From the American Bar Association, 2022

Native Americans are underrepresented within the law but the most affected by the law. Learning opportunities like these events empower, expose and engage Native American high school students. Young adults, whose minds are at a developmental stage in their life, can learn from current Native American professionals, who are also every day relatives and grew up on tribal lands.

Collaborations like these are important and we look forward to hosting more events. We extend our appreciation to the Navajo Nation District Court in Tuba City. Thank you to our awesome ILP alumni crew – Verrin, Kris, and Michael – for spending time with the students. 

Repatriation of cultural objects

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This year, the Indian Legal Clinic (ILC) student attorneys Brittany Habbart (3L) and Ruben Zendejas (3L) prepared a comment on the repatriation of cultural objects for a new Austrian repatriation project created by the Advisory Committee for Guidelines for Collections in Austrian Federal Museums from Colonial Contexts convened by the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport (BMKÖS). BMKÖS requested comments and suggestions while Austria is considering new laws and policies about when to repatriate and the process of repatriation for a variety of materials. Certain items within Austria’s collections have a history of colonialism, violence, or otherwise did not have meaningful consent. The country has opened the important discussion about the way museums acquired their collections, including Austria’s federal museums, and how to address those items present-day. 

The ILC comment suggests, “that meaningful repatriation policy consider all cultural items from historically colonized communities to be subject to and open for repatriation; make considerations for formally recognized indigenous governments, as well as other smaller indigenous communities and even, if necessary, individual claimants; and, the burden of proof be not placed solely on Indigenous communities, but on the western institutions themselves. Further we advise the museum to consider the possibility of digital repatriation — the authorization of licenses, copyrights, etc. — where physical repatriation is not wanted, needed, or possible.” 

The Indian Legal Clinic worked with Professor Trevor Reed to prepare the comment.

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Helen Burtis (’07)
Faculty Associate, Indian Legal Clinic, ASU Law

ILP students compete in UCLA Moot Court

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ILP students Chad Edwards (3L), Samir Grover (2L), Ryan Maxey (3L) and Chanel Simon (3L) competed in the UCLA Williams Institute Moot Court Competition. The competition is the only moot court competition dedicated exclusively to gender and sexuality that involved competitors from across the country. Students prepared an appellate brief on the constitutionality of a hypothetical ban on conversion therapy and gender affirming care under the first and fourteenth amendments. On March 11, ILP teams had the opportunity to argue both sides of the issue at UCLA.

“Being involved with a moot court competition provides a complementary experience to law school classes,” said Simon. “I would recommend future ILP and NALSA students to participate in the competition because it gives you the chance to apply your writing and public speaking skills, while also learning how to improve those skills with feedback from professors, classmates, and volunteer judges. Moot court competitions also provide the opportunity to travel and meet law students from across the country.”

Thank you to our coaches, Faculty Director Patty Ferguson-Bohnee and Native Vote Fellows Torey Dolan (’19) and Blair Tarman-Toner (’21), and volunteer judges for helping them prepare.

Learning in Alaska

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Partnership expands ILP Traveling Class

For spring break, 29 ASU Law students traveled to Anchorage, Alaska for the ILP traveling class Alaska Native Legal Issues and Solutions. 

ASU Law and the Indian Legal Program (ILP) partnered with the Alaska Native Justice Center (ANJC) and the Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Inc. to offer this course. Alex Cleghorn, ANJC’s senior legal and policy director co-taught the class with Dean Stacy Leeds.

This week-long class exposed students to the culture, environment and unique legal issues of Alaska Native communities. Guest speakers, including ILP alumni Maude Blair (’02), Charlie Galbraith (’06) and Liz Medicine Crow (’05), presented on panels to share their insight and expertise. “What mostly resonated with me was applying a forward-looking approach to changing legislation instead of relying on legislative history to advocate for Native peoples,” said Maryam Salazar (2L).

On top of her course schedule and assignments, Ravynn Nothstine (3L)  documented and shared her experience. 

Read more in this ASU News article: Spring break trip to Alaska provides ASU students with firsthand look at Indigenous law

We appreciate our partners, hosts, presenters and alumni for making this an enriching experience. Thank you to our students, faculty and staff for documenting the first ILP traveling class in Alaska!

Johnson v. M’Intosh

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International conference was a success

On March 10, the ILP hosted a virtual event “Unraveling the International Law of Colonialism: The 200th Anniversary of Johnson v. M’Intosh.” 

Johnson v. M’Intosh is an 1823 U.S. Supreme Court case that used the Doctrine of Discovery to justify denying Native Americans and Indigenous Peoples’ legal rights to their ancestral lands. We had eight Indigenous speakers from South Africa, Norway, India, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. Our other five speakers added immeasurably to the program. Professor Robert Miller presented and moderated the webinar with 12 speakers to discuss how the Doctrine of Discovery has impacted Indigenous nations and peoples all over theworld but most importantly how Indigenous peoples are fighting back to “unravel” this international law of colonialism. 

We thank each of our esteemed speakers and staff for making this a great success. We couldn’t put on these kind of events without the great work of Kate, Theresa, Danielle and Lindsay. We had over 800 registrants and the recording is now available to everyone in the world.

If you missed the webinar, watch the recording.

An article “The International Law of Colonialism: Johnson v. M’Intosh and the Doctrine of Discovery Applied Worldwide” published by Professor Miller that includes a detailed timeline of the Supreme Court case.

ASU Indian Legal Clinic filed Amicus Brief

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On Feb. 8, the Indian Legal Clinic (ILC) filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Diné Hataałii Association in Arizona v. Navajo Nation. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on Monday, March 20, 2023. Congratulations to ILC Faculty Director Patty Ferguson-Bohnee, Director Derrick Beetso (’10) and ILP students Clayton Kinsey (2L), Maryam Salazar (2L), Natalia Sells (2L) and Chelsi Tsosie (2L) for their efforts in drafting the brief. We also appreciate Law Fellow Honore Callingham (’18) for her assistance in preparing the brief for filing.

The brief informs the Court on traditional Diné principles that support the Navajo Nation’s position. The team is humbled the Hataałiis, as the stewards of this sacred knowledge, entrusted the Indian Legal Clinic to represent their interest, and hope the brief helps the Court better understand the Navajo Nation’s treaties with the United States and how the Navajo signatories would have understood them.

“As a Diné law student, this case pertains to an issue that affects my family, my home, and my culture,” said Chelsi. “Knowing that and having the opportunity to assist in preparing an amicus brief that conveys the Diné perspective − the way we view the world and natural law around us − to the Court is an experience that will stay with me forever.”