October 14, 2024
The Supreme
Court has made headlines in recent years for a variety of controversial rulings
— for gutting affirmative action, granting the president broad immunity and
overturning the constitutional right to an abortion. As the Supreme Court has
moved further to the right (and struggles with a legitimacy crisis thanks to
compounding ethics scandals), a growing portion of the U.S. population is
concerned by how much power the court has. But long before Dobbs, Citizens
United or even Bush v Gore, the Supreme Court was wreaking havoc in an area of
the law that doesn’t often make mainstream news headlines: the sovereignty of
Indigenous nations.
Chief
Arvol Looking Horse, of the Sioux Tribe, delivers a prayer during the
rally in front of the United States Supreme Court on the East Front of
the U.S. Capitol, on December 7, 2015. Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call
