Republished Update on April 6, 2005 at 4:45PM
Link fixed on April 7, 2005 at 9:20AM
There is a pay-for-view link on this story at the Pantagraph, but the AFRA site has it for free.
The Cherokee Nation claims in court documents that Laurey Sam's case in Macon County has been marked by violations of the Indian Child Welfare Act, a federal law that governs adoptions and foster care placements of American Indian children.Amy Joan Schneider emails to say that the case has a familiar ring to it.
Enacted in 1978, the law established minimum burdens of proof for removing Indian children from their homes and gave tribes the right to intervene in custody disputes. Cherokees say the law is a vital tool for maintaining the identities of its members and tribal populations from generation to generation.
"The best interest of the child is taken into consideration, but keeping Indian children in Indian homes is balanced with it," said Stacy Leeds, a member of the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court and a law professor at the University of Kansas at Lawrence.
...
Darrell Statzer of Decatur, the attorney for Sam's mother, maintained the case has been handled in accordance with the federal law and said the Cherokee Nation's input has been sporadic and untimely.
"They've never done anything besides write letters and make phone calls. ... They're a day late and a dollar short with this stuff," he said.
Meanwhile, the case is headed to the appellate court for the third time.
[The] Sam case is eerily parallel as all the same people are involved.And similar outcomes. Apparently, like the Schneider case, the side without the lawyers are playing "catch up" in appeals court. The law doesn't tend to favor those who didn't prove their case the first time...for whatever reason.
A quick check of the online Macon County court records failed to produce anything useful or relevant. I have an email in to the journalist who wrote the piece for the Pantograph and will file an update as appropriate.
Instant Analysis: More questions about this court...
4/6 Update
9:00AM - I have received word from Mr. Silvermann confirming that Judge Scott Diamond is indeed hearing this case. He indicated that he didn't have any information about a racial factor in the decision, but did note that there were some serious abuse allegations involved. My understanding was that the allegations were dismissed, but I'll have to check up on that again later. "Let's not jump to conclusions" is probably the best advice at this time.4:45PM - Yet another similar case? I have an email in to the author of this bit as well and will report back as appropriate.
Also: I am working on an update about the impact on the children in custody battles like the Schneider case.
