Posted in Family Law on August 8, 2014
A child custody and tribal sovereignty dispute has been settled in Alaska. The Alaska Supreme Court ruled in favor of an Interior tribal court in the Simmonds v. Parks case, which was contested by Governor Sean Parnell’s administration.
The case began six years ago as a custody dispute in Minto, a small village 130 miles northwest of Fairbanks. In May 2008 the Minto Tribal Court ruled to terminate the parental rights of Edward Parks and Bessie Stearman over their 6-month-old daughter after a social worker expressed concerns about possible domestic violence in the home. The tribal court took emergency, followed by permanent, custody of the child and sent her to a foster family, Stearman’s first cousin. Parks sued the foster family – the Simmonds – in Superior Court. The Superior Court judge found that the Minto Tribal Court had violated Parks’ constitutional right of due-process because his attorney was not given the chance to speak before the child was taken into custody.
The recent Alaska Supreme Court ruling reversed the lower court’s ruling, siding with the tribal court. The Supreme Court argued that Parks should have contested the decision in the tribal court’s appeals court rather than suing in a state court. The Alaska Attorney General filed a brief in support of Parks during the Supreme Court Appeal, arguing that tribal court is not the proper venue to judge the parental rights of Parks, because Parks is not a member of the Native Village of Minto and has never lived in the community. He is a member of another Interior tribe, Stevens Village. Bessie Stearman is a part of the Minto tribe.
The case has served as a test of the tribal court’s authority to remove parental rights from a parent who is not a member of the tribe and while it may influence future disputes between tribal and state courts, Parks would not have won custody of his daughter. He was charged and convicted of felony assault and kidnapping for attacking Stearman in December 2011, and is currently serving a 59-year prison term.
For a Vancouver family law attorney, contact Nick Wood.
Source: News Miner, “Alaska Supreme Court sides with Interior tribe in child custody, sovereignty case,” Sam Friedman, July 18, 2014.
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