The South Dakota Office of Hearing Examiners affirmed last month that the Oglala Sioux Tribe could not be required to pay the City of Martin’s legal fees to receive public records. Unfortunately, in that same decision, the examiner failed to protect the Tribe’s sovereign immunity.

Senate Bill 119 would allow Native American voters to register to vote using their Tribal identification on the same par as a state-issued driver’s license.

The South Dakota Office of Hearing Examiners has affirmed that to receive public records, the Oglala Sioux Tribe need not pay the City of Martin’s “outside legal fees incurred in producing the records.”

The ACLU’s educational, organizing and lobbying efforts will be focused primarily on voting rights, free speech and expression, LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit equality, Indigenous sovereignty and justice, and bodily autonomy and abortion rights.

The City of Martin, S.D., wants the Oglala Sioux Tribe to either waive its sovereign immunity or pay an unknown amount of exorbitant attorneys and administrative fees upfront in order to receive public records related to the city’s new redistricting map.

The ICCPR review is a unique opportunity to hold the United States accountable before an international forum. Our hope is that this review motivates federal and local leaders to make changes that respect and uphold individuals’ civil and political rights.

Equal access to learning about Native American heritage and culture in our educational institutions is important. The ACLU supports the protection of students’ First Amendment rights to receive information as part of their education.

Injecting the state legislature into lawsuits that challenge the constitutionality of election laws threaten judicial independence by limiting courts’ power and injects politics into state judiciaries.

If ICWA is overturned, states would be allowed to forcibly remove Native children from their families, tribes, and culture while simultaneously depriving tribes of future generations of members — putting the very existence of tribes in jeopardy.