Indian Child Welfare Act considered by en banc Fifth Circuit Thursday, January 23, 2020

Courthouse News Service

A full 16-judge panel at the Fifth Circuit heard arguments Wednesday in a case that challenges a 1978 law that gives preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings involving children who are identified as belonging to a Native American tribe.

Compared with a hearing on the same case last March in the same court before a three-judge panel, Wednesday’s hearing focused on the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act, known as ICWA.

Plaintiffs in this case, opponents of the act, argue that emotional bonds are overlooked by the federal government’s insistence Native American children taken from their families must be placed with members of their own tribes.

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