Build and Broaden: Indigenous Peoples Before United States Courts: A Systematic Examination

University Of Texas At El Paso, El Paso TX

Investigators

Abstract

The sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples and Nations in the United States is recognized in the Constitution. However, over time judicial decisions and legislative enactments delegated authority over indigenous policy to the states, which benefit little from preserving and protecting indigenous rights. The result is that Indigenous Peoples and Nations have received limited judicial redress from courts in the United States. This project will examine the role of federal and state courts in adjudicating indigenous issues by analyzing how changing political contexts over time impact judicial decision making in cases concerning Indigenous Peoples and Nations. In doing so, the project will enhance capacity, trajectory, and career development at a Hispanic-serving institution, and it will aid in fostering partnerships with indigenous communities in different states. This project will analyze all cases involving Indigenous Peoples and Nations in state supreme courts, U.S. Courts of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court, from 1960 through 2020. Employing quantitative and qualitative data and inquiry, the project will assess testable hypotheses that capture audience-based and representative theories of judicial behavior, as well as other hypotheses based on institutional constraints facing courts. The project’s theoretical foundation necessarily diverges from the extant literature, since the issue of indigenous sovereignty does not apply to other underrepresented groups. By systematically tracing these cases across the judicial hierarchy, the project will theoretically evaluate how courts are exposed to disparate political pressures and institutional constraints with respect to indigenous rights. The result will be first systematic, large-scale, longitudinal analysis of judicial decision making in indigenous affairs. The project will disseminate its data and research products widely to interested parties, including scholars, indigenous community representatives, policy advocates, and attorneys, and it will build collaborative research networks on indigenous sovereignty and rights. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.