Slone

Plaintiffs David and Lou Emma Slone appeal from the Inyo County Superior Court’s denial of their petition, pursuant to 25 United States Code section 1914 , a provision of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), in which they sought to invalidate actions of the Inyo County Juvenile Court. The actions to which plaintiffs objected had taken place in a juvenile court dependency case involving their three children. Their sole contention on appeal is that the superior court erred in ruling that it had no jurisdiction to hear the petition. The basis of the superior court’s ruling was that it was not a “court of competent jurisdiction” to review the actions of the juvenile court under 25 United States Code section 1914 .

Factual and Procedural History

Plaintiff Lou Emma Slone is an Indian and a member of the Choctaw Indian Nation in the State of Oklahoma. Plaintiff David Slone, her husband, is a non-Indian. The couple’s three children are either members of their mother’s tribe or eligible for membership.

In August of 1987 the Inyo County Department of Social Services (DSS) removed plaintiffs’ children from the couple’s home and filed a dependency petition on their behalf in the…