Federal Judge Dismisses Anti-ICWA Suit

On Thursday a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed a suit challenging both the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act and the new federal guidelines that were implemented last February by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, citing a lack of subject matter jurisdiction and standing in the case.

Last May, the Alexandria, Virginia-based National Council for Adoption (NCFA) and Surprise, Arizona-based Building Arizona Families (BAF), filed suit against Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn, claiming that ICWA “violates the birth parents’ rights to due process under the Fifth Amendment by interfering with their ability to direct the upbringing of their ‘Indian’ children.”

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/12/11/federal-judge-dismisses-anti-icwa-suit-162743