Strange Words from Justice Scalia

Indianz.com reported about Justice Scalia's debate with the ACLU (Nadine Strossen). One of the issues raised was Employment Division v. Smith (1990).

I'm sure this is taken out of context, but it's a scary thing to hear from a sitting Justice (quoting from Indianz.com):

Scalia himself warned that shifts in the court could result in significant changes in the law. "Someday, you're going to get a very conservative Supreme Court and you're going to regret what you've done," he told the ACLU president during the debate.

What exactly will "we" regret? And isn't the Court already pretty conservative?

Strange.

No Lara II This Term

The Court denied cert. in both the Means v. Navajo and Morris v. Tanner cases.

Given that two of the seven members of the Lara majority are no longer on the Court (Rehnquist, C.J. & O'Connonor, J.) -- and that two others wrote concurrences practically begging for a case where the petitioner was appealing a tribal court conviction (Kennedy, J., and Thomas, J.) -- the Lara majority looked shaky. The cert. denial is a great victory.

See my commentary in ICT.

Harvard Indian Law Alumni Conference

October 28-29, 2006 at Harvard, of course!

Schedule

Friday, October 27, 2006
8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.	Registration Pound Hall, 2nd Floor, Room 210 Lobby, 1563 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
12:15 –1:45 p.m. Pound Hall, 2nd Floor, Ropes-Gray Room	Luncheon with Reunion Classes
1:45–2:00 p.m. Pound Hall 101	Welcome to the Celebration & Introduction of Opening Address NAAC Chair Kristen Carpenter '98, bio Prayer/Song Steven Emery '89, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
2:00–3:15 p.m. Pound Hall 101	Indian Law in Tribal Communities: Views from Indian Country Steven Emery '89, In-House Counsel, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Lance Morgan '93, CEO, Ho–Chunk, Inc., bio Henry Sockbeson '76, Office of Tribal Counsel, Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation Heather Thompson '00, Director of Governmental Affairs, National Congress of American Indians Moderator: Josh (JD) Anders '07, Past President, HLS NALSA
3:30–4:00 p.m. Pound Hall 101	Keynote Address Susan Williams '81, Partner, Williams & Works, bio
4:15–5:30 p.m. Pound Hall 101	Emerging Scholars in Indian Law: Paper Presentations Kristen Carpenter '98, Asst. Professor, University of Denver Sturm College of Law, bio Gavin Clarkson '02, Asst. Professor, University of Michigan Law School & School of Information, bio Angela Riley '98, Assoc. Professor, Southwestern University Law School, bio Wenona Singel '99, Asst. Professor, Michigan State University Law School, bio1, bio2 Commentator, Lorie Graham LLM '95, Assoc. Professor, Suffolk University Law School, bio
5:30 –6:30 p.m. Hauser Hall 101, Borenstein Room	Native American Alumni Committee Meeting
6:30 p.m. Pound Hall, 2nd Floor, Ropes-Gray Room	Cocktail and Light Supper with Reunion Classes
Saturday, October 28, 2006
8:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.	Registration Pound Hall, 2nd Floor, Room 210 Lobby, 1563 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
8:15–8:45 a.m. Langdell North	Continental Breakfast
8:45–9:15 a.m. Langdell North, Vorenberg Classroom	Welcome & Introduction CNAA Co–Chair Jennifer Weddle '00, bio
9:15–10:30 a.m. Langdell North, Vorenberg Classroom	Keynote Address Robert Odawi Porter '89, Syracuse University Law School, Professor of Law; Dean's Research Scholar of Indigenous Nations Law; Director, The Center for Indigenous Law, Governance & Citizenship; and Senior Associate Dean for Research, bio
10:45 a.m.–11:45 a.m. Austin Hall, 2nd Floor, James Barr Ames Courtroom	A Conversation with Dean Elena Kagan, bio
12–1:30 p.m. Harkness Commons, 2nd Floor, North Dining Room	Native American Alumni Luncheon Introduction Carmen Lopez, Ed.M '00, Director, Harvard University Native American Program, bio Diversity and Indians at HLS Lawrence Baca '76, Deputy Director, Office of Tribal Justice, U.S. Department of Justice, bio Special Recognition of Early Native American Graduates Woodrow Sneed '64, Martin Seneca '71, Jerry Muskrat '72 ( invited)
1:45–2:45 p.m. Pound Hall 101	Panel: Hot Topics in Indian Country Joseph William Singer '81, Bussey Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, bio Gloria Valencia–Weber '86, Professor of Law, University of New Mexico School of Law, bio Gerald Torres, Bryant Smith Chair in Law, University of Texas School of Law (Oneida Indian Nation Visiting Professor '06), bio Moderator : Steven McSloy '88, Co-Chair, Native American Practice, Hughes, Hubbard & Reed, bio
3:00–5:00 p.m. Pound Hall 101	Panel: HLS and Career Paths of Native American Alumni: How We Impact Indian Country Greg Bigler '81, Justice, Mashantucket Pequot Court of Appeals Mark Van Norman '86, Executive Director, National Indian Gaming Association, bio Jennifer Weddle '00, Associate, Holland & Hart LLP, bio Heather WhitemanRunsHim '02, Public Defender, New Mexico Moderator : Ethel Branch '08, President, HLS NALSA
7:30–8:00 p.m. Charles Hotel, Harvard Square	Reception
8:00–10:00 p.m.	Native American Gala Dinner Greetings and Introduction Robert C. Clark '72, Harvard Law School Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor and Austin Wakeman Scott Professor of Law, bio Keynote Address & Presentation of Oneida Gift Ray Halbritter '90, Nation Representative, Oneida Indian Nation, bio "The Oneida Indian Nation Chair in Federal Indian Law" Acceptance Elena Kagan '86 Dean of the Faculty of Law and Charles Hamilton Houston Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, bio NAAC Honoring Presentation
Sunday, October 29, 2006
9:00 - 11:00 a.m. Pound Hall, 2nd Floor, Ropes-Gray Room	Farewell Brunch with Reunion Classes