The National Native American Bar Association is urging President Barack Obama to appoint a Native American to the U.S. Supreme Court.

There's never been a Native person on the high court in history. And there are currently no Native Americans in active status in the federal judiciary.

"There are dozens of Native attorneys qualified for the Supreme Court such as John EchoHawk (whom many consider the Thurgood Marshall of Indian Country), Kevin Gover (Director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, former Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs and law professor), Larry EchoHawk (Current Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, former state attorney general and law professor), and Arlinda Locklear (the first Native woman to argue before the Supreme Court)," Patty Ferguson-Bohnee, the president-elect of NNABA, and Heather Dawn Thompson, the immediate past president, wrote in a letter to Obama.

NNABA urged Obama to nominate a Native person to the court when Justice David Souter retired in 2009. Although his replacement, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, lacked a strong record on Indian law, the group supported her nomination.

Relevant Documents:
National Native American Bar Association Letter to President Obama (April 14, 2010)

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