Indigenous Law & Policy Center
The Indigenous Law & Policy Center is a program for students who wish to develop special expertise in indigenous law, policy and practice. Professor Matthew Fletcher serves as Director of the Center. The Center also supports the Indigenous Law & Policy Center class under the supervision of staff attorney Kate Fort.
Indigenous Law & Policy Center Class
A key component of the Indigenous Law & Policy Center is the experiential learning class, which provides competent, experienced and inexpensive legal services to tribal governments in an effort to assist them in attaining their judicial and governmental goals. By offering the highest-quality legal services and representation, tribes are empowered to improve their communities. Students who participate in the class have the opportunity to engage in a variety of projects, including legal research and writing assistance for tribal judicial systems and drafting tax codes and policies for tribal governments. The class is open to second- and third-year students, and offers an experiential, elective course in the fall and spring semesters, including a classroom component on tribal judiciaries and taxation of indigenous peoples.
Some of the types of services the Indigenous Law & Policy Center provides for tribal clients include:
- Drafting and implementing tribal tax codes and creating tribal administrative organizations for their administration
- Designing and implementing tribal court systems and serving as a resource for existing court systems with legal research and writing
- Aiding tribal governments in tax litigation and tax planning
- Drafting and implementing laws affecting land tenure systems
In addition to the class component, the Indigenous Law & Policy Center serves as the primary sponsor of Indian law conferences. The focus of the inaugural conference in 2005 was "Tribal Constitutional Issues in the Self-Determination Era." The 2006 conference discussed the "Indigenous Justice Systems of North America." The third annual conference specifically focused on the Indian Child Welfare Act. In October, 2007 the fourth annual conference will be the first to cover the topic of American Indian Law and Literature.
- Application (PDF)