Legal Mobilization, Rights Claims, and Federal Indian Policy Reform

Wayne State University, Detroit MI

Investigators

Abstract

It is often assumed that minority groups seeking to claim rights are more successful in federal courts than when working through the legislative process. Yet, American Indians, which remain the most impoverished group in the United States, lose in the Supreme Court over 75% of the time. As a result, many lawyers and advocates have encouraged Indian nations to pursue legislative rather than judicial solutions to problems plaguing Indian country, even though little is actually known about how American Indians and Indian nations fare in the political process. This study begins to fill this gap in our knowledge by examining how, when, and with what success the 565 Indian nations in the United States use the political process to change the law. It focuses on Indian nations? support or opposition for relevant bills introduced and enacted between 1975 and 2011, and determines whether such support or opposition led to the enactment of federal policies beneficial to Indians. Case studies, selected from trends in the quantitative study and developed using archival data and new ethnographic research, supplement the initial quantitative analysis of legislative hearings to better assess the variety of legislative strategies used by Indian nations and the success of those strategies. The study?s findings will provide legal scholars, practicing lawyers, law reformers, and legislative advocates with a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of how underrepresented communities might use various institutions and strategies to influence the enactment of laws and policies favorable to them.