5th Circuit: appointment of counsel portion of ICWA is constitutional
04/09/2021
,
Federal
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Litigation
, Abuse/Neglect/Dependency - Accused Parents
A divided en banc Fifth Circuit held that parts of the Indian Child Welfare Act are valid and parts are unconstitutional. With respect to right to counsel, ICWA requires appointment of counsel for Indian parents, and the court held this validly preempted state law in states that don’t have such a requirement.
