![\"supremecourt\"](\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/24\/supremecourt-scaled.jpg\")
\r\n<\/p>\r\nMy newspapers started to complain about the lack of Native Americans as federal judges in the 1980s mostly because of a man who served on the Supreme Court way back then.
<\/p>\r\nHis name was William Hubbs Rehnquist\u00a0and he was an American lawyer and jurist who served on the\u00a0Supreme Court of the United States\u00a0for 33 years, as an\u00a0associate justice\u00a0from 1972 to 1986 and as\u00a0Chief Justice\u00a0from 1986 until his death in 2005. Considered a conservative, Rehnquist favored a conception of\u00a0federalism\u00a0that emphasized the\u00a0Tenth Amendment’s reservation of powers to the states. Under this view of federalism, the court, for the first time since the 1930s, struck down an act of Congress as exceeding its power under the\u00a0Commerce Clause.
<\/p>\r\nHe had a special drawer where he filed cases he thought little of and told his law clerks he would get around to them if he found the time. In the drawer were cases involving Native American tribes and Indian issues, cases he referred to as \u201cshit cases.\u201d Unfortunately, Rehnquist\u2019s feelings about Native American issues filtered all of the way down through the federal court system.
<\/p>\r\nFinally Diane Joyce Humetewa, Hopi,\u00a0was confirmed in 2014 as the first\u00a0Native American\u00a0woman and enrolled tribal member to serve as a federal judge, Humetewa is one of three Native Americans in history to serve in this position. She served as United States District Judge in Arizona. A seat as a federal judge is about to open in South Dakota and me and my newspaper, Native Sun News Today, plus many tribal leaders, highly recommend Sara Boensch Collins for that seat.
<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n The position is currently held by Judge Jeffrey L. Viken, who will be taking senior status. Jeff is an old friend of mine and has done a good job, but I believe it is time for a Native American to assume that job position. <\/p>\r\nSarah, age 45, is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and a native Western South Dakotan. Her family has ranched on the Pine Ridge Reservation for five generations. When she was in high school she used to sit at the dining room table while I and her mother Lynn Rapp, talked about Native American issues. The issues ranged all of the way from Indian politics to Native spirituality. She listened and learned. After high school she went on to Colorado State University and earned a law degree. <\/p>\r\nSince then she has dedicated her career to civil service, starting with the District Attorney\u2019s office in Adams County, Colorado, and continuing with ten years of service as an Assistant United States Attorney in Rapid City. She is currently the Senior Litigation Counsel for the District of South Dakota and has tried over 160 cases, giving her profound knowledge of the rules of criminal procedure, evidence and jury processes.\r\n <\/p> \r\nSarah has diverse case experience, including white collar and civil rights cases, but she has focused on obtaining justice for crime victims, particularly children. She has been recognized for her work investigating and prosecuting purveyors and distributors of child pornography, including personally pursuing the investigation of a United States citizen for brutally beating and sexually abusing multiple boys from Guatemala. Sarah was selected for the Attorney General\u2019s Advisory Committee on Internet Crimes and served two terms. She annually leads an undercover operation to catch internet predators during the Sturgis Bike Rally, resulting in the successful prosecution of 69 defendants. \r\n <\/p>\r\nHer dedication to serving crime victims has resulted in justice for hundreds of American Indian victims. Recently she obtained the landmark conviction of former Indian Health Service doctor Stanley Patrick Weber<\/a> for his decades-long horrific sexual abuse of Native children across numerous reservations, earning her the Attorney General\u2019s Award for Exceptional Service in Indian Country in January 2021. \r\n <\/p>![\"dojawardceremony\"](\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/24\/dojawardceremony.jpg\")
\r\n