Sunday, October 22, 2006

Strange Words from Justice Scalia

Indianz.com reported about Justice Scalia's debate with the ACLU (Nadine Strossen). One of the issues raised was Employment Division v. Smith (1990).

I'm sure this is taken out of context, but it's a scary thing to hear from a sitting Justice (quoting from Indianz.com):

Scalia himself warned that shifts in the court could result in significant changes in the law. "Someday, you're going to get a very conservative Supreme Court and you're going to regret what you've done," he told the ACLU president during the debate.

What exactly will "we" regret? And isn't the Court already pretty conservative?

Strange.

No Lara II This Term

The Court denied cert. in both the Means v. Navajo and Morris v. Tanner cases.

Given that two of the seven members of the Lara majority are no longer on the Court (Rehnquist, C.J. & O'Connonor, J.) -- and that two others wrote concurrences practically begging for a case where the petitioner was appealing a tribal court conviction (Kennedy, J., and Thomas, J.) -- the Lara majority looked shaky. The cert. denial is a great victory.

See my commentary in ICT.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Harvard Indian Law Alumni Conference

October 28-29, 2006 at Harvard, of course!


Schedule

Friday, October 27, 2006


8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Registration

Pound Hall, 2nd Floor, Room 210 Lobby, 1563 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

12:15 –1:45 p.m.
Pound Hall, 2nd Floor, Ropes-Gray Room

Luncheon with Reunion Classes

1:45–2:00 p.m.
Pound Hall 101

Welcome to the Celebration & Introduction of Opening Address

NAAC Chair Kristen Carpenter '98, bio

Prayer/Song

Steven Emery '89, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe

2:00–3:15 p.m.
Pound Hall 101

Indian Law in Tribal Communities: Views from Indian Country

Steven Emery '89, In-House Counsel, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe

Lance Morgan '93, CEO, Ho–Chunk, Inc., bio

Henry Sockbeson '76, Office of Tribal Counsel, Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation

Heather Thompson '00, Director of Governmental Affairs, National Congress of American Indians

Moderator: Josh (JD) Anders '07, Past President, HLS NALSA

3:30–4:00 p.m.
Pound Hall 101

Keynote Address

Susan Williams '81, Partner, Williams & Works, bio

4:15–5:30 p.m.
Pound Hall 101

Emerging Scholars in Indian Law: Paper Presentations

Kristen Carpenter '98, Asst. Professor, University of Denver Sturm College of Law, bio

Gavin Clarkson '02, Asst. Professor, University of Michigan Law School & School of Information, bio

Angela Riley '98, Assoc. Professor, Southwestern University Law School, bio

Wenona Singel '99, Asst. Professor, Michigan State University Law School, bio1, bio2

Commentator, Lorie Graham LLM '95, Assoc. Professor, Suffolk University Law School, bio

5:30 –6:30 p.m.
Hauser Hall 101, Borenstein Room

Native American Alumni Committee Meeting

6:30 p.m.
Pound Hall, 2nd Floor, Ropes-Gray Room

Cocktail and Light Supper with Reunion Classes

Saturday, October 28, 2006


8:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Registration

Pound Hall, 2nd Floor, Room 210 Lobby, 1563 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

8:15–8:45 a.m.
Langdell North

Continental Breakfast

8:45–9:15 a.m.
Langdell North, Vorenberg Classroom

Welcome & Introduction

CNAA Co–Chair Jennifer Weddle '00, bio

9:15–10:30 a.m.
Langdell North, Vorenberg Classroom

Keynote Address

Robert Odawi Porter '89, Syracuse University Law School, Professor of Law; Dean's Research Scholar of Indigenous Nations Law; Director, The Center for Indigenous Law, Governance & Citizenship; and Senior Associate Dean for Research, bio

10:45 a.m.–11:45 a.m.
Austin Hall, 2nd Floor, James Barr Ames Courtroom

A Conversation with Dean Elena Kagan, bio

12–1:30 p.m.
Harkness Commons, 2nd Floor, North Dining Room

Native American Alumni Luncheon

Introduction

Carmen Lopez, Ed.M '00, Director, Harvard University Native American Program, bio

Diversity and Indians at HLS

Lawrence Baca '76, Deputy Director, Office of Tribal Justice, U.S. Department of Justice, bio

Special Recognition of Early Native American Graduates

Woodrow Sneed '64, Martin Seneca '71, Jerry Muskrat '72 ( invited)

1:45–2:45 p.m.
Pound Hall 101

Panel: Hot Topics in Indian Country

Joseph William Singer '81, Bussey Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, bio

Gloria Valencia–Weber '86, Professor of Law, University of New Mexico School of Law, bio

Gerald Torres, Bryant Smith Chair in Law, University of Texas School of Law (Oneida Indian Nation Visiting Professor '06), bio

Moderator : Steven McSloy '88, Co-Chair, Native American Practice, Hughes, Hubbard & Reed, bio

3:00–5:00 p.m.
Pound Hall 101

Panel: HLS and Career Paths of Native American Alumni: How We Impact Indian Country

Greg Bigler '81, Justice, Mashantucket Pequot Court of Appeals

Mark Van Norman '86, Executive Director, National Indian Gaming Association, bio

Jennifer Weddle '00, Associate, Holland & Hart LLP, bio

Heather WhitemanRunsHim '02, Public Defender, New Mexico

Moderator : Ethel Branch '08, President, HLS NALSA

7:30–8:00 p.m.
Charles Hotel, Harvard Square

Reception

8:00–10:00 p.m.

Native American Gala Dinner

Greetings and Introduction

Robert C. Clark '72, Harvard Law School
Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor and Austin Wakeman Scott Professor of Law, bio

Keynote Address & Presentation of Oneida Gift

Ray Halbritter '90, Nation Representative, Oneida Indian Nation, bio

"The Oneida Indian Nation Chair in Federal Indian Law"

Acceptance

Elena Kagan '86
Dean of the Faculty of Law and Charles Hamilton Houston Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, bio

NAAC Honoring Presentation

Sunday, October 29, 2006


9:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Pound Hall, 2nd Floor, Ropes-Gray Room

Farewell Brunch with Reunion Classes