SCOTUS Upholds Native American Adoption Law Pentagon Leak Suspect Teixeira Pleads Not Guilty to Federal Charges In a 7-2 ruling, the Supreme Court of the United States rejected non-Indigenous parents' and the state of Texas's challenges to the Indian Child Welfare Act. Jack Douglas Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the US Air National Guard accused of leaking US military secrets, pleaded not guilty on 21 June to six federal counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information relating to national defence, a court filing showed. Court, hundreds of tribes argued that the ICWA acted in children’s best interests, and that the law treats Native Americans as a political class rather than a racial group. The ICWA was enacted in 1978, prompted by studies indicating that 85% of Native children who were removed from their homes were fostered outside of the Native community. Among other child protection measures for Native children, he ICWA gives preference to members of the child’s family or tribe, or other Native families, over nonuploaded to the WikiLeaks website in 2010. The documents allegedly leaked by Teixeira contained highly classified information on the US’s allies and adversaries, including sensitive details on Ukraine's air defences and Israel's Mossad spy agency. The DoJ noted that each charge of unauthorised retention Natives and non-relatives. A number of tribal leaders issued a joint statement hailing the decision. “We hope this decision will lay to rest the political attacks aimed at diminishing tribal sovereignty and creating instability throughout Indian law that have persisted for too long,” they said. “By ruling on the side of children’s health and safety, the US constitution, and centuries of precedent, the justices have landed on the right side of history.” and transmission of national defence information provides for a fine of up to $250,000, a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, and up to three years of supervised release. Teixeira's family released a statement after the arraignment, saying that they "are hopeful Jack will be getting the fair and just treatment he deserves." In so doing, the court upheld established law that prioritises Native American families in adoption or foster care of Native American children, throwing out claims that the law constitutes a form of racial discrimination. In briefs submitted to the Supreme Teixeira appeared in a federal court in Worcester, Massachusetts, for an arraignment after his arrest in April over the disclosure of US documents related to the Ukraine war and a number of other sensitive issues. He has been held in federal prison in Plymouth County, south of Boston, while awaiting trial. No trial date has been set. Prosecutors claim that Teixeira leaked classified documents to a group of gamers on the messaging app Discord. The leak is considered the most serious breach of US national security since more than 700,000 government documents, videos and diplomatic cables were MONTHLY ROUND-UP 9
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