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 Article by Ruth Steinberger on 24 August 2002 Rosebud Spiritual Walk and the Brian Collins Controversy Sept 2002
NOTE: Read the above article by Ruth Steinberger on the Rosebud Spiritual Walk, and the letters by Alfred Bone Shirt on the Judge Collins controversy.
Rosebud Vs SDDSS memo
Memo: To whom it may concern
I have been asked by the Dakota-Lakota-Nakota Human Rights Advocacy Coalition and the Sicangu Lakota Grassroots Oyate to prepare a brief summary of the issues raised in the class action lawsuit, SWALLEY, ET AL., AGAINST THE SOUTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES< ET> AL., in the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Court.
The Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council authorized me to bring a class action lawsuit against the Stae of South Dakota's Department of Social Services in the Tribal Court. the Plaintiffs, in their lawsuit, challenge the State's practices of taking legal custody of Indian children on the Rosebud Reservation as a violation of the tribe's sovereignty and the families' rights to due process of law.
In this class action lawsuit, the class bringing the lawsuit consists of all Indian parents and children on the reservation. I represent that Plaintiff-Class.
The State of South Dakota's Department of Social Services has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that the Tribal Court has no jurisdiction over the State Department of Social Services (D.S.S.) or its caseworkers, even though the State D.S.S. goes into Tribal Court and takes custody of Indian children by applying for custody orders from the Tribal Court.
Through its attorney, Eric Antoine, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe has also filed a brief with the court, in which the tribe argues that the Tribal Court does have jurisdiction over the State D.S.S. and that the State is unlawfully exercising State authority on this Reservation.
The honorable Judge Brian Collins, of the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Court, has ordered the parties to make arguments on the motion to dismiss at a hearing in the Tribal Court at 9:00 A.M. on Friday, April 12, 2002. The issue to be decided is whether the Tribal Court has jurisdiction over the State Department of Social Services and its caseworkers on the Rosebud Reservation.
Dana Hanna
Public Defender
Rosebud Sioux Tribal Court
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