29Apr 2023 by Charles E. Price
Aboriginal legal services frozen or at risk of shutting down in 17 communities across NSW and Queensland | Indigenous Australians

Aboriginal legal services frozen or at risk of shutting down in 17 communities across NSW and Queensland | Indigenous Australians

LEGAL
Four communities in Queensland have had their Aboriginal legal services frozen and more than a dozen communities in New South Wales are at risk of losing theirs, prompting calls for urgent funding from the commonwealth government to help First Nations clients.Karly Warner, the chair of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services national peak body NATSILS, said communities are now at risk of not being able to access culturally safe legal services and lead to a worsening crisis of Indigenous incarceration.“There is no point sugar-coating this situation – it could result in far worse outcomes for people and families,” said Warner, who is also the chief executive of Aboriginal Legal Services in New South Wales and ACT.“We know that when culturally safe legal support isn't available, the result is more…
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31Jul 2022 by Charles E. Price
Federal minister urges parliament to pass handgun freeze

Federal minister urges parliament to pass handgun freeze

LAW
Breadcrumb Trail Links Local News Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino speaks during question period in the House of Commons on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press Article content Canada's Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says the federal Conservatives are to blame for legislative delays on handguns that have led to a backlog of firearm registrations. Advertisement 2 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content In May, Ottawa introduced a bill that proposes freezing handgun sales and transfers, a move slammed at the time by Alberta's chief firearms officer as an “intrusion” into the lives of gun owners. It also led to a spike in handgun sales, and, according to the Alberta government, a bottleneck in transfer and license applications that…
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04Jul 2022 by Charles E. Price
US Supreme Court gavel falls on tribal rights

US Supreme Court gavel falls on tribal rights

LAW
Opinion The US Supreme Court, amid decisions radically expanding gun rights and removing a woman's constitutional right to abortion, has toppled almost 200 years of law protecting Native American tribal independence and sovereignty. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled individual US states have authority over tribes within their borders. In a 5-4 decision defining the scope of the 2020 McGirt ruling, Justice Brett Kavanaugh writes: "The court holds that Indian country within a state's territory is part of a state, not separate from a state. The decision specifically had to do with the issue of state jurisdiction of criminal law on tribal lands, but comes with massive ramifications. Simply put, it means, in the 20 states where tribal reservations exist, US state law now supersedes Indigenous law. In the United…
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04Jul 2022 by Charles E. Price
Oklahoma spent millions on a legal and PR campaign to paint reservations as ‘lawless dystopias’ and convince the Supreme Court to weaken tribal sovereignty,

Oklahoma spent millions on a legal and PR campaign to paint reservations as ‘lawless dystopias’ and convince the Supreme Court to weaken tribal sovereignty,

LEGAL
Indigenous and environmental activists protest in front of the White House in Washington, Oct. 11, 2021.Sue Ogrocki, File/Associated PressThe Supreme Court ruled last week the state of Oklahoma has some jurisdiction over tribal lands.Native law experts told Insider the ruling ran counter to decades of Native law.They said the court bought into Oklahoma's dubious narrative of reservations as "lawless dystopias."Oklahoma engaged in a coordinated effort to disparage Native American tribes and convince the Supreme Court to weaken tribal sovereignty — and it worked, according to Native law experts.On Wednesday, the Supreme Court sided with the state in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta in a 5-4 opinionholding that the state of Oklahoma had concurrent jurisdiction with the federal government to prosecute some crimes committed on reservations.But Native law experts said the decision ran…
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