Catholic Social Services, Inc. v. C.A.A.

783 P.2d 1159, 1989 Alas. LEXIS 158, 1989 WL 151004

• Court: Alaska Supreme Court
• Decided: December 8, 1989
• Docket: S-2879
• Status: Published

Opinions

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

The sole issue presented in this case is whether under the Indian Child Welfare Act¹ an Indian child’s tribe is entitled to notice of a proceeding for voluntary termination of parental rights. We answer this question in the negative. Congress explicitly granted intervention rights to tribes in involuntary termination proceedings, but did not do so in voluntary termination proceedings. Compare 25 U.S.C.A. § 1912(a) with 25 U.S.C.A. § 1913 (West 1983).

The legislative history of the Act demonstrates that this was a considered choice by Congress. Witnesses testified on both sides of the question whether notice should be required.² Additionally, the Bureau of Indian Affairs interpretative guidelines confirm the correctness of our view: “The Act mandates a tribal right of notice and intervention in involuntary proceedings but not in voluntary ones.” Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Guidelines for State Courts; Indian Child Custody Proceedings, 44 Fed.Reg. 67584, at 67586 (1979).

The appellees’ contention that due process requires tribal notice lacks merit. In enacting the Indian Child Welfare Act, Congress has both created and defined tribal rights in adoption and termination proceedings. The provisions of the Act which give tribes the right to notice of certain proceedings and not to- others, define the scope of tribal rights. The Act strikes a balance between the sometimes conflicting interests of Indian parents, Indian children, and their tribes. We are unable to say that the fact that Congress stopped short of granting tribes the right to notice in voluntary termination proceedings is fundamentally unfair.

The judgment is REVERSED and this case is REMANDED for further proceedings.

1 . 25 U.S.C.A. §§ 1901-1963 (West 1983).

2 . See testimony of (1) Chief Calvin Issac, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, in Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978: Hearings Before The Subcommittee on Indian Affairs and Public Lands of the House Comm, on Interior and Insular Affairs, 95th Cong., 2d Sess. 62-65 (1978); (2) Mary Jane Fales, North American Center on Adoption, Id. at 141-148; and (3) Sister Mary Clare, Catholic Social Services of Alaska, Id. at 80-90.