Job opening: ASU Tribal Relations Director

Arizona State University
Office of Government & Community Engagement

Serves as primary liaison between the University and tribal nations/communities locally, regionally, and globally to develop partnerships and seek to embrace and connect with tribal communities enabling both success of American Indian students by providing a climate of cultural respect and inclusion, and research integrity when working with tribal nations, communities, and native people.

Works in partnership with the Special Advisor to the President to assist the Office of American Indian initiatives.

See job announcement (pdf) and apply.

Indian Law articles published by ASU Law students

We are so proud of our recent grads! ASU Law’s legal writing program has prepared ILP alumni Noah Goldenberg (’23) and Claire Newfeld (’23) with valuable skills needed for the legal profession. 

Goldenberg was one of 25 recipients of the Law360 Distinguished Legal Writing Award – Law School from the Burton Awards for his article “Indian Embryos as ‘Indian Children?’

Newfeld won The Scribes Law-Review Award for her paper “Indian Boarding School Deaths and the Federal Tort Claims Act: A Route to a Remedy.”

Both of their articles were published in the Arizona State Law Journal.

Read more in the ASU Law Newsroom article: ASU Law students win national legal writing awards

Call for articles

The Law Journal for Social Justice (LJSJ) at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law is seeking articles, notes, or comments for our Spring 2024 issue. We publish articles on a range of interdisciplinary topics at the intersection of law and social justice. In our Spring 2024 publication, we are looking for articles on topics centering around violent crime, Indigenous issues, and social justice. 

If you would like to submit your work for publication in Volume XIX of the Law Journal for Social Justice, you can submit your article to ljsjeic@gmail.com or to Managing Editor Tyler DeMers at tjdemers@asu.edu

Additionally, LJSJ is currently seeking out Symposium panelists who are interested in speaking on the topics of violent crime, Indigenous issues, and social justice for our Spring Symposium in February of 2024. If you have legal scholarship or research on these topics and are interested in participating in the Symposium, or if you have any questions regarding the Symposium, please feel free to contact Symposium Natalia Sells (3L) at nlsells@asu.edu

For more information regarding the Law Journal for Social Justice, please go to: https://lawjournalforsocialjustice.com/.

Job opportunities with New Mexico Legal Aid

New Mexico Legal Aid (NMLA) provides civil legal services to low-income New Mexicans for a variety of legal issues including domestic violence/family law, consumer protection, housing, and benefits. NMLA has locations throughout the state including Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Gallup, Roswell, Silver City, Clovis, Hobbs, Las Vegas, Taos, and Santa Ana.

Staff Attorney posting 8.4.2023

Director for Native American Program 8.1.2023

Pathways to the Bench: Honorable Diane J. Humetewa (’93)

As the first Native American federal judge, Honorable Diane J. Humetewa (’93) holds her Hopi tribal homelands close to her heart. Being in a position that serves a great purpose has allowed her to mentor and empower future Native American leaders. In Nov. 2022, she invited ASU Law students to visit her chambers and learn about her pathway to the bench.

Building power to Native American law

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.

Job opportunities: Judicial Branch of the Navajo Nation

Court Solicitor (244326) – Window Rock, AZ

District Court Clerk (909557) – Tuba City, AZ

District Court Clerk (909563) – Kayenta, AZ

District Court Clerk (240815) – Shiprock, NM

District Court Clerk (112557) – Window Rock, AZ

District Court Clerk (209528) – Window Rock, AZ

District Court Clerk (209534) – Window Rock, AZ

Staff Attorney (240874) – Aneth, UT

Staff Attorney (234987) – Kayenta, AZ

Staff Attorney (211848) – Tuba City, AZ

Associate Justice * (209546) – Window Rock, AZ

District Court Judge * (00000) – District Court, Navajo Nation Wide

 

For full list of job announcements, go to Judicial Branch of the Navajo Nation.

Tribal Court Trial Skills 2023

After a multi-year postponement due to pandemic-related safety concerns, the Indian Legal Clinic was very excited to once again present its bi-annual Tribal Court Trial Skills College for tribal court practitioners.  
  
The Trial Skills College was an intensive, four-day session that provided practical, hands-on training for advocates to develop and refine the skills necessary to try cases in tribal court. The program culminated in a mock trial held on the last day. 
  
Held in May, twelve tribal court advocates from Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming and Montana participated.  
  
Students praised the program for the guidance it provided them and the cameraderie experienced throughout the event. In addition to the classroom and simulated training received, the Trial Skills College provided the tribal court lay advocates with a rare opportunity to gather and share with others in similar positions at other tribal nations.  
  
ASU Law alumni served as trial consultants for the students and presented as members of the faculty on topics ranging from ethics to closing arguments including Landon Antelman (’11), Fernando J. Anzaldua (’13), Derrick Beetso(’10), Helen Burtis (’07), Jennifer Giff (’95), Ed Hermes (’13) and Ben Rundall(’14). The Honorable Anthony Hill (’06), Honorable Kaniatarí:io Jesse Gilbert(’07) and Kevin Pooley (’15) served as judges during the simulated trial.  
 
Other experienced litigators and judges who volunteered their service included Eric Dahlstrom, Louis Mallette, Sonia Martinez, Pilar Thomas, Jose Valles, and the Honorable Ida Wilber. 

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

Press Release

Justice Department Launches Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons Regional Outreach Program

Program Will Place 10 New Personnel in Five Regions

PHOENIX, Ariz. – The Department of Justice today announced the creation of the Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Regional Outreach Program, which permanently places 10 attorneys and coordinators in five designated regions across the United States to aid in the prevention and response to missing or murdered Indigenous people.

“This new program mobilizes the Justice Department’s resources to combat the crisis of Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons, which has shattered the lives of victims, their families, and entire Tribal communities,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department will continue to accelerate our efforts, in partnership with Tribes, to keep their communities safe and pursue justice for American Indian and Alaska Native families.”

“These new positions represent the Justice Department’s continuing commitment to addressing the MMIP crisis with urgency and all of the tools at our disposal,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “MMIP prosecutors and coordinators will work with partners across jurisdictions and alongside the Tribal communities who have been most devastated by this epidemic.”

“Vindicating the rights of missing and murdered indigenous persons and their families is a top priority for our office,” said United States Attorney Gary Restaino. “As home to 22 federally-recognized tribes, this District has been thinking about — and working on — this issue for several years. It is a complex issue, with no easy solution. Hosting an MMIP coordinator for the Region will allow us to dedicate even more resources to this important issue.”

The MMIP regional outreach program prioritizes MMIP cases consistent with the Deputy Attorney General’s July 2022 directive to United States Attorneys’ offices promoting public safety in Indian country. The program fulfills the Justice Department’s promise to dedicate new personnel to MMIP consistent with Executive Order 14053, Improving Public Safety and Criminal Justice for Native Americans and Addressing the Crisis of Missing or Murdered Indigenous People, and the Department’s Federal Law Enforcement Strategy to Prevent and respond to Violence Against American Indians and Alaska Natives, Including to Address Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons also issued in July 2022.

The program will dedicate five MMIP Assistant U.S. Attorneys and five MMIP coordinators to provide specialized support to United States Attorneys’ offices to address and combat the issues of MMIP. This support includes assisting in the investigation of unresolved MMIP cases and related crimes, and promoting communication, coordination, and collaboration among federal, Tribal, local, and state law enforcement and non-governmental partners on MMIP issues. The five regions include the Northwest, Southwest, Great Plains, Great Lakes, and Southeast Regions, and MMIP personnel will be located within host United States Attorneys’ offices in the Districts of Alaska, Arizona, Eastern Washington, Minnesota, New Mexico, Northern Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, and Western Michigan. Programmatic support will be provided by the MMIP Regional Outreach Program Coordinator at the Executive Office for United States Attorneys.

“The Executive Office for United States Attorneys and the United States Attorney community are committed to preventing and responding to cases of missing or murdered Indigenous people. To that end, we will work together with all relevant federal, Tribal, state, and local law enforcement partners to locate missing persons and solve crimes where they have occurred,” said Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA) Director Monty Wilkinson. “This new program will allow the Department to build upon the work done by individual United States Attorneys’ offices and ensure continued support to those offices by coordinating outreach regionally on MMIP matters.”

More broadly, this MMIP program will complement the work of the Justice Department’s National Native American Outreach Services Liaison, who is helping amplify the voices of crime victims in Indian country and their families as they navigate the federal criminal justice system. Further, the MMIP program will liaise with and enhance the work of the Department’s Tribal Liaisons and Indian Country Assistant United States Attorneys throughout Indian Country, the Native American Issues Coordinator, and the National Indian Country Training Initiative Coordinator to ensure a comprehensive response to MMIP.

RELEASE NUMBER:    2023-098_MMIP Regional Outreach Program

For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit: Justice.gov/AZ

Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.

Public Affairs Officer: Diana L. Varela (diana.varela@usdoj.gov)