The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed a lower court\u2019s decision Friday, recognizing the authority of a Juneau-based tribal government to issue child support orders.<\/p>\n
Juneau Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg first ruled in favor of Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska\u2019s Tribal Court in October 2011 to issue child support orders that must be reinforced by the State\u2019s Child Support Services Division (CSSD).<\/p>\n
Previously, CSSD did not recognize tribal court support orders or provide interstate support services.<\/p>\n
Pallenberg said in his earlier decision that child support was an essential element to \u201censuring that children are fed, clothed, and sheltered. The future of a tribe \u2014 like that of any society \u2014 requires no less.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ignoring the tribal courts\u2019 right to enforce child support might also deter parents from bringing disputes to the tribal courts because they would not be able to decide all the issues, Pallenberg added.<\/p>\n
State Supreme Court Justice Daniel E. Winfree wrote in the court\u2019s opinion that the tribe\u2019s already existing right to rule on custody matters supports the high court\u2019s decision that the tribe could also handle child support disputes.<\/p>\n
Winfree wrote that the State\u2019s concern was not for non-tribe members who might be forced to answer to a tribal court, but for its own budget.<\/p>\n
\u201c(The State) simply did not want to have to enforce any of the Tribe\u2019s child support orders \u2014 and as a result of the litigation the State now will, as a general matter, have to enforce the Tribe\u2019s child support orders,\u201d Winfree wrote.<\/p>\n
Central Council\u2019s Tribal Child Support Unit was first initiated in 2004 and received federal funding as Alaska\u2019s first tribal child support program in 2007. Since then, tribal courts have decided more than 100 support cases.<\/p>\n
In the past, CSSD has not fully cooperated with Central Council in garnishing a parent\u2019s IRS tax refunds, Alaska unemployment insurance benefits or Permanent Fund Dividends in certain cases. Still, the two entities have worked together, with CSSD having referred more than 700 child support cases to the tribal unit for enforcement, according to facts presented to the high court. CCSD has also enforced cases the unit referred to the State, but only when an order was first issued by a state court \u2014 not a tribal one.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a very important court ruling for not only our children and families, but for tribal sovereignty,\u201d Central Council President Richard Peterson said in a statement Friday. \u201cThe Tribe and the State\u2019s Child Support Services Division have developed a successful working relationship and we will continue to work in a spirit of cooperation to ensure our children receive the support they need.\u201d<\/p>\n
This decision further builds upon growing tribal sovereignty, adding to the State of Alaska and Central Council agreement reached earlier this month that allowed the later to take over child welfare cases of tribal children.<\/p>\n
Although this decision puts some matters to rest, others still remain uncertain. Both the superior and high courts agreed that personal jurisdiction \u2014 involvement of non-tribe members in child support matters \u2014 must still be decided on a case-by-case basis so as not to violate due process.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho in this case represents the legal interests of non-(tribal) member parents of tribal children?\u201d Winfree asked in the opinion. \u201cNo one. I do not find this particularly satisfying for a court that prides itself on procedural fairness.\u201d<\/p>\n
The matter will only be solved, the justice declared, when an actual dispute between a tribal and non-tribal parent presents itself.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Contact reporter Paula Ann Solis at 523-2272 or paula.solis@juneauempire.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed a lower court\u2019s decision Friday, recognizing the authority of a Juneau-based tribal government to issue child support orders. Juneau Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg first ruled in favor of Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska\u2019s Tribal Court in October 2011 to issue child support orders […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[75],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-12271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12271\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12271"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=12271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}