Topic
Tribal Sovereignty
Posts
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Online2026
Land-Grant Universities
In their groundbreaking High Country News article on “land-grab universities,” Robert Lee and Tristian Ahtone argue that Congress’s 1862 Morrill Act, which famously granted…
Michael Banerjee -
ArticleVol. 102 · Iss. 6
Citizenship and Empire in Elk v. Wilkins
In 1884, the Supreme Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship did not apply to Native Americans. In Elk v. Wilkins,…
Alexandra Fay -
ArticleVol. 102 · Iss. 5
Judicial Imperialism: The Supreme Court’s Assault on Tribal Sovereignty and the Rule of Law
The post-1970s Supreme Court has abandoned precedents supporting tribal self-governance and devised new theories to strip tribes of sovereign powers. The Supreme Court’s assault…
Adam Crepelle -
ArticleVol. 102 · Iss. 4
A World Without Federal Sentencing Guidelines
Most participants and observers of the criminal system perceive the Federal Sentencing Guidelines as excessively harsh. A foundational question has persisted since the creation…
Sam J. Merchant -
NoteVol. 101 · Iss. 5
Tribal Sovereignty & Sovereign Immunity In Bankruptcy
In July 2019, Brian Coughlin borrowed $1,100 from a payday lender named Lendgreen. Later that year, Mr. Coughlin filed for bankruptcy and listed his…
Justin Desjardins -
Online2023
Standardizing Appeals From Domestic Dependent Sovereign Courts
The U.S. Supreme Court’s historic decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma held that much of northeastern Oklahoma is Native American land. As a result, the…
Campbell Sode -
NoteVol. 94 · Iss. 4
Digitizing Tribal Law: How Codification Projects such as Tribal Law Online could give New Rise to American Indian Sovereignty
“Today, in the United States, we have three types of sovereign entities– the Federal government, the States, and the Indian tribes.” The oft- forgotten…
Jacob Franchek -
NoteVol. 93 · Iss. 6
Why Obergefell Should Not Impact Amerian Indian Tribal Marriage Laws
This Note explores what Obergefell means for members of American Indian nations, and it argues that Obergefell should not constrain tribal governments. Part I…
Steven J. Alagna -
CommentaryVol. 92 · Iss. 1
Hobby Lobby and the Zero-Sum Game
In a zero-sum game, one person’s gain is another person’s loss. Some claims under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act present such zero-sum circumstances in…
Kathryn E. Kovacs -
ArticleVol. 97 · Iss. 1
The Indigenous McClain Doctrine: A New Legal Tool to Protect Cultural Patrimony and the Right to Self-Determination
In December 2010, the United States endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which obligates the United States to…
Matthew Birkhold