Category Archives: Students

Indian Legal Clinic helps Gila River prosecutors win appeal

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April Olson andDerrick Beetso Derrick Beetso, a third-year law student in the Indian Legal Clinic, recently assisted April Olson (Class of 2006) in an appeal before the Court of Appeals of the Gila River Indian Community.

Olson successfully prosecuted the defendant on the charges of theft and robbery. The defendant raised three issues on appeal: (1) whether the trial court improperly precluded witnesses; (2) whether the trial court improperly admitted opinion testimony; and (3) whether the trial judge improperly relied on facts not in evidence.

Through the Indian Legal Clinic’s partnership with the Gila River Indian Community Prosecutor’s Office, Beetso was asked to argue the merits of the case before a three-judge panel of the Gila River Court of Appeals.

The case was argued on Sept. 16, and the Court of Appeals issued a decision affirming the trial court decision in favor of the Community On Dec. 28.

ILC files amicus brief in Fifth Circuit Religious Freedom Case

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Indian Legal Clinic Files Amicus Brief in Fifth Circuit Religious Freedom Case

The ASU Indian Legal Clinic and Quarles & Brady filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas in A.A. v. Needville School District. Indian Legal Clinic Student-Attorney Daniel Lewis, Quarles & Brady attorney Katea Ravega, and Professor Patty Ferguson-Bohnee prepared the brief.

The school district appealed a permanent injunction issued by the Southern District of Texas prohibiting the district from enforcing a regulation that would prevent a Native American kindergartner from wearing his hair in braids at school in violation of his constitutional rights of freedom of expression and religion. The school district’s policy prevents boys from wearing their hair long, and specifically provides that a boy’s hair “shall not cover any part of the ear or touch the top of the standard collar in the back.” Because of the policy, the student was placed in in-school suspension. The student believes “that his long hair is not only an expression of his ancestry and heritage, but also a sacred symbol of his life and experience in this world.”

The amicus brief addressed the Lipan Apache tradition of wearing hair long for both expression of identity and religious purposes and requested the Fifth Circuit to affirm the lower court’s decision.

Breann Swann receives research fellowship!

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2009 LL.M. grad receives research fellowship

Breann Yoshiko Swann, a 2009 graduate of the College of Law’s LL.M. in Tribal Policy, Law and Government program, recently was named the recipient of an Inaugural Research Fellowship according to a recent University of Hawai’i, Mānoa press release.

The fellowship was established through the Kamehameha Schools, a charitable educational trust, whose mission is to provide educational opportunities to improve the capacity and well-being of people of Hawaiian ancestry. It will enable Swann to conduct up to three years of research, scholarship, teaching and/or other research-related projects at the Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law at the William S. Richardson School of Law.

Swann earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of Southern California — Gould School of Law.

To read the University of Hawai’i press release click here.

To read other College of Law stories about Swann please visit http://www.law.asu.edu/?id=902 and http://www.law.asu.edu/?id=1368.…..

4th Annual ASU NALSA Golf Tournament

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Saturday, November 14, 2009
Whirlwind Golf Course
Chandler, AZ
8:15 A.M. Shotgun Start

The Native American Law Student Association (NALSA) at the Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law cordially invites you to participate in its 4th Annual Golf Tournament to be held on Saturday, November 14th, 2009. The scramble format tourney will take place at the Whirlwind Golf Course in Chandler, AZ. (Gila River Indian Community)

For further information or to request an entry form, please contact:
Derrick Beetso (602) 717-1828 or dbeetso@asu.edu

Deadline for entry is Saturday, October 31, 2009. Players may also enter late up to the day of the event for $155 per player (subject to space availability).

Tournament Sponsorships Available

ILP/NALSA Graduation – 5/16/9 at 5:00 p.m.

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On behalf of the Indian Legal Program and the Native American Law Students Association, I would like to invite alumni and friends of the program to attend the ILP/NALSA graduation reception on Saturday, May 16th at 5:00 p.m.

The event will take place in the College of Law Rotunda. Dinner will be served. Please RSVP to Sunny Larson at Sunny.larson@asu.edu by May 8th.

Amicus Brief in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder

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The Indian Legal Clinic and Sacks Tierney filed an amici brief in the above-reference case regarding the constitutionality of the Section 5 preclearance requirements. Indian Legal Clinic Student Attorney Nikki Borchardt (3L), Adjunct Professor and ASU Alum Judy Dworkin and Professor Patty Ferguson Bohnee prepared the brief.

Brief of the Navajo Nation, Anthony Wounded Head, et al. Amici are concerned that if the Court declares that the reauthorization of Section 5 is unconstitutional, American Indian voting rights will be significantly impacted and result in a reversal of the strides made in recent years to ensure greater Indian voter participation. This would negatively impact many American Indian voters who only recently secured the right to vote, continue to face discrimination in voting, and who cannot shoulder the financial burden to bring lawsuits under Section 2 of the VRA.

Pro Bono Winners!

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Congrats to our students who earned Pro Bono Distinction!

Highest Pro Bono Distinction (150 hours or more) — Joe Sarcinella
Pro Bono Distinction (50 — 99 hours) — Nikki BorchardtCongratulations for Sarah Cedar Face for being selected for a Summer Fellowship!

Pro Bono Participants
Sarah Cedar Face
Dan Lewis
Brad Martin
Rebecca Ross
Naomi White
Mandy Cisneros
Michael-Corey Hinton
Pat Kincaid

ILP Students co-author "Arizona Attorney" article

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ILP students co-author ‘Arizona Attorney’ article

Indian law should be added to the Arizona State Bar Examination for practical and professional reasons, according to an article written by two students in the College of Law’s Indian Legal Program and published in the May issue of Arizona Attorney.

“State and tribal interactions are increasing at an exponential rate,” wrote authors Brian Lewis (Choctaw) and Raymond Campbell (Gila River Pima), third-year students at the College of Law who are working in its Indian Legal Clinic. “In Arizona today, attorneys need to have at least a modicum of Indian law knowledge to serve their clients competently. And learning at least some Indian law will ensure that Arizona’s attorneys meet the requirements of the Arizona Rules of Professional Conduct.”

Many Indian law issues may arise in Arizona, from the adoption of Indian children and probate of real property on tribal lands to auto accidents on reservations that may involve complex jurisdictional dilemmas, Lewis and Campbell wrote in the article, “Indian law: A needed addition to the Arizona Bar Exam.”

The magazine invited the students to write the article, because a proposed Arizona Supreme Court rule change would include Indian law as a topic to be tested on the Bar exam. The comment period on the proposal ends May 20.

In 2003, New Mexico became the first state to include Indian law on its Bar exam, followed by Washington state in 2004, and other states are working to add it, Lewis and Campbell wrote. Arizona, the state with the largest percentage of Indian lands in the country, should not fall behind, they wrote.

To read the full article, click here.

National NALSA Awards

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Please join me in congratulating our ASU NALSA members and the COL alumnus who were honored by the National NALSA Executive Board at the Federal Bar Association’s Indian Law Conference last week. These students were nominated by the ASU Chapter of NALSA and voted on by the National NALSA Executive Board. Congratulations!

NNALSA Outstanding 1L of the Year – Khia Grinnell
NNALSA Outstanding 3L of the Year – Nikki Borchardt
NNALSA Outstanding Alum of the Year – Marlene Rae Jones (’97)

Interested in law school? Join us!

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You are invited to attend:
A Law School Information Session
Hosted by the Indian Legal Program & the Native American Law Students Association

Monday, April 6, 2009

NOON – 1:15 PM
ROOM 114

Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
Arizona State University

Food will be provided.

This session is perfect for undergraduate or graduate students interested in applying to law school. Whether you are a freshman, senior or Masters student, there will be something for you. Law students will guide you through the application process and be available for questions. Please feel free to share with others you think might be interested.