Haaland v. Brackeen

Haaland v. Brackeen
Cherokee Nation v. Brackeen
Texas v. Haaland
Brackeen v. Haaland
Argued November 9, 2022
Decided June 15, 2023
Full case nameDeb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior, et al. v. Chad Everet Brackeen, et al.
Cherokee Nation, et al. v. Chad Everet Brackeen, et al.
Texas v. Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior, et al.
Chad Everet Brackeen, et al. v. Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior, et al.
Docket nos.21-376
21-377
21-378
21-380
Citations599 U.S. 255 (more)
ArgumentOral argument
Opinion announcementOpinion announcement
Case history
PriorBrackeen et al v. Zinke et al, 388 F. Supp. 3d 514 (N.D. Tex. 2018); Brackeen et al v. Bernhardt et al, 937 F.3d 406 (5th Cir. 2019); Brackeen et al v. Haaland et al, 994 F.3d 249 (5th Cir. 2021) (en banc)
Questions presented
Whether various provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act violate the anticommandeering doctrine of the Tenth Amendment, the nondelegation doctrine, Congress's limited authority under the Indian Commerce Clause, or the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment, and whether the petitioners have standing.
Holding
1. The Court declines to disturb the Fifth Circuit’s conclusion that ICWA is consistent with Congress’s Article I authority.

2. Petitioners’ anticommandeering challenges, which address three categories of ICWA provisions, are rejected.

3. The Court does not reach the merits of petitioners’ two additional claims—an equal protection challenge to ICWA’s placement preferences and a nondelegation challenge to §1915(c), the provision allowing tribes to alter the placement preferences—because no party before the Court has standing to raise them.
Court membership
Chief Justice
John Roberts
Associate Justices
Clarence Thomas · Samuel Alito
Sonia Sotomayor · Elena Kagan
Neil Gorsuch · Brett Kavanaugh
Amy Coney Barrett · Ketanji Brown Jackson
Case opinions
MajorityBarrett, joined by Roberts, Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Jackson
ConcurrenceGorsuch, joined by Sotomayor, Jackson (Parts I and III)
ConcurrenceKavanaugh
DissentThomas
DissentAlito
Laws applied

Haaland v. Brackeen, 599 U.S. 255 (2023), was a Supreme Court of the United States case brought by the states of Texas, Louisiana, and Indiana, and individual plaintiffs, that sought to declare the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) unconstitutional. In addition to Haaland v. Brackeen (Docket No. 21-376),[1] three additional cases were consolidated to be heard at the same time: Cherokee Nation v. Brackeen (Docket No. 21-377), Texas v. Haaland (Docket No. 21-378), and Brackeen v. Haaland (Docket No. 21-380).

The matter originally came up in a Texas District Court on an adoption petition filed by Chad and Jennifer Brackeen. After their effort was challenged by the Navajo Nation, the Brackeens brought suit in the U.S. District Court in Fort Worth. The Cherokee Nation, Oneida Nation, Quinault Indian Nation, and Morongo Band of Mission Indians intervened in the case. The U.S. District Court declared that the ICWA was unconstitutional and the case was appealed.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the District Court in a panel opinion. The full court, on rehearing the case en banc, held that parts of the law, that set federal standards for lower and state courts, were constitutional, but that the parts of the law that required state agencies to perform certain acts were unconstitutional as a violation of the Tenth Amendment.

The Supreme Court heard the case on November 9, 2022, and the decision was handed down on June 15, 2023. In a 7–2 ruling, the Supreme Court affirmed the Fifth Circuit's determination that the ICWA is consistent with congressional powers. The appellant claims of state commandeering were rejected, reversing the Fifth Circuit's decision. No determinations were made as to appellant Fourteenth Amendment claims for lack of standing.

  1. ^ "Search - Supreme Court of the United States".