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American Indian child 'welfare' law under fire
Topic Started: May 18 2016, 01:44 PM (307 Views)
Demagogue
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/05/17/american-indian-child-welfare-law-under-fire.html?intcmp=ob_article_sidebar_video&intcmp=obinsite

A child-welfare law passed by Congress nearly four decades ago specifically to protect Native American children and preserve their cultural heritage is under attack from critics who claim the law is putting children in potentially dangerous situations that have led to abuse — and even death.

Enacted in 1978 to stop the widespread practice of removing at-risk Native American children from their biological families, the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) — labeled the “gold standard” in child welfare by ardent supporters — in most cases gives tribes legal authority to rule on custody, and sets minimum federal standards for termination of parental rights, foster care and adoption.

But a wave of new opposition claims that while ICWA is noble in its intent, it’s been twisted into a legal power grab that comes at the expense of children.

In November 2013, for example, a Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe woman with a long history of neglect was sentenced to 30 years in prison after she threw her 2-year-old step-granddaughter down an embankment to her death. The little girl, named Lauryn, and her twin sister had been removed from a non-Indian foster family and placed with her grandfather and his wife, Hope Louise Tomahawk Whiteshield, after the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe stepped in and invoked ICWA.

In recent months, several lawsuits have been filed challenging ICWA and other laws that allow children to be taken from foster parents to be brought back to their tribes. The lawsuits argue the laws violate due process by employing a race-based double standard that harms Native American children and strips them of the same legal rights given to others in the adoption or foster process.
People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would do them harm.
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Demagogue
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Interesting article. Since I don't really have a dog in this fight I would be interested to hear Tsalgai's thoughts on this.
People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would do them harm.
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Hope Louise Tomahawk Whiteshield? God forbid you name a sports team after her....
Only liberals can choose not to go down the road to widespread, systematic violence.
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Demagogue
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Interesting that our resident native american has not seen this topic.
People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would do them harm.
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