In an hours-long Nov. 9 hearing, the U.S. Supreme Court pressed attorneys about whether a 44-year-old law to shield Indigenous children and families from unjust separations goes beyond the power of Congress to regulate federally recognized tribes. The Indian Child Welfare Act, or ICWA, was passed by Congress and became law at a time when as […]
Supreme Court
Posted inNews
Vigil to Honor Life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
“Someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of her ability. And to help repair tears in her society, to make things a little better through the use of whatever ability she has. To do something, as my colleague David Souter would say, outside myself. ‘Cause I’ve gotten […]
Posted inNews
Supreme Court Declines to Reconsider Tribes’ Water Rights at Klamath River, T-S Reports
The Times-Standard is reporting the Supreme Court has declined to overturn a court decision guaranteeing that Native tribes near the Klamath River can reserve enough water in the river to protect fish populations and beyond. “The ruling, or affirmation, by the Supreme Court is encouraging,” said Mike Orcutt, the Hoopa Valley Tribe’s fisheries director in […]
Posted inNews
Supreme Court Denies Eureka’s Request in Police Video Case
The California Supreme Court has decided not to reconsider a recent appellate ruling establishing a statewide precedent that police arrest videos cannot be considered confidential officer personnel records and shielded from public view. The court’s decision may put an end to a more than two-year battle between the city of Eureka and the North Coast Journal […]
Posted inNews
Eureka Takes Police Video Fight to the Supreme Court
The city of Eureka is trying to keep its recent appellate court loss from setting a statewide precedent. In July, the First District Court of Appeals rebuffed the city’s effort to block release of a video depicting the arrest of a 14-year-old suspect, ruling that the video — and others like it — could not […]
Posted inNews
Supreme Court Denies School Contract Case
The California Supreme Court has denied a Fresno school district’s request to review an appellate court ruling that was strongly critical of its use of no-bid contracts — a ruling that school contractors across the state fear may set a legal precedent that leaves them on the hook to repay millions of dollars in past […]
Posted inNews
Humboldt Celebrates Love
“When I was seven years old my mother told me that sooner or later the United States was going to have to recognize gay marriage. I am 78 now. I have been crying and laughing all morning.” Ginger Olsen has been with her partner Diana Livingston for 22 years. They married in the State of […]
Posted inNews
4th Amendment Rights and SCOTUS SWAG
When the United States Supreme Court took up the only criminal case on its calendar this year, a local attorney was at counsel table. Arcata attorney Jeffrey Schwartz — husband to the North Coast Journal’s Media Maven, Marcy Burstiner — didn’t argue the petitioner’s case, but was asked to sit in and advise by appellate […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Green-eyed Cops
We get a lot of press releases here at the Journal, a steady drip of emails announcing everything from ribbon-cuttings to dance recitals to (let’s see what’s at top of my inbox here) a Holiday Gift Guide pitch for German-made electric irons. (Eat your heart out, Clark Kent.) Our favorites by far are law enforcement […]