8
Smoke Signals
New Tribal Court Administrator
Tribal member Angela Fasana moves from the
Tribal Attorney's Office to the Tribal Court.
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By Brent Merrill
Some modern Indians don't want
to hear about the old adage of
'walking in two worlds.' But, when
it is your reality, everyday, you learn
to deal with it.
Grand Ronde Tribal member An
gela Fasana, the daughter of Tribal
Council member Reyn Leno and his
wife Liz, walks in two worlds every
day. Several more if you count fam
ily activities into the equation.
Fasana is doing more than deal
ing with it, she's thriving.
She married her high school sweet
heart (Ariah Fasana), they have two
beautiful children (Cheyanne and
Justin), and she graduated from
Portland State University and then
Lewis and Clark's Law School. And,
currently she is enjoying a success
ful career in the Tribal Court system.
After interning in the Tribal Court
and then spending the last couple of
years as a legal assistant, Fasana
knows her way around the Tribal
Court. That knowledge of the court
system and her knowledge of the lo
cal community made her a perfect fit
for the newly created position of
Tribal Court Administrator.
Walking on both sides of the Tribal
Court system will have its advan
tages for Fasana as she prepares the
Tribal Court to meet the next century.
Currently, the Tribe's court system
has three employees, but growth is on
the horizon. Fasana will oversee that
growth and the people who come into
the program. Fasana works closely
with Tribal Court Judge Katherine
English and Tribal Court Clerk
Sandra Stearns. She has been busy
preparing budgets, organizing the
office, creating forms, revising infor
mation booklets, ordering new court
recording equipment and computer
programs, assisting the judge and the
court clerk with court orders and even
drafting some of the court orders.
Fasana said she will be spending
time managing the court docket and
that scheduling the court is one of the
more important functions of her job.
"I try to make sure the court is run
efficiently," said Fasana. "One of the
main reasons the job was developed
was because the judge found herself
spending too much time on the ad
ministrative part of the job. She
needs to be the judge. The workload
got to a point where there was a need
for another person. It is a busy job."
As the Tribal Court Administrator,
Fasana tracks every case that comes
through the doors. She schedules the
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Angela Fasana
cases and makes sure the court ad
heres to the all important time lines.
Fasana has become a Tribal mem
ber on the fast track. She is living
proof that young, women profession
als today can have it all.
Her husband Ariah is a science
teacher at the high school in Wil
lamina where they met. He coaches
cross-country and wrestling and
shares the duties of raising their two
children. Their oldest is daughter
Cheyanne at age four and son Jus
tin is one and a half years old.
Fasana is the daughter of Reyn
and Liz Leno and the granddaugh
ter of Orville and Ramona Leno and
Chris and Darlene Muller.
Fasana's brothers are Shonn and
Dustin Leno. Shonn works in the
Tribe's Natural Resources depart
ment. Dustin and his wife Teaya
work at the Tribe's Spirit Mountain
Casino and have a daughter -Koana,
who is almost three and they
have another child on the way.
After graduating from Willamina
High School in 1990, Fasana at
tended Western Oregon University
for one year. She then finished col
lege with three years at Portland
State University. She earned a
bachelor's degree in sociology while
at PSU. Fasana then moved on to
law school at Lewis and Clark Col
lege near Portland.
Expanding the Tribal Court is in
Fasana's plans and she wants to draw
on her experience both in law school
and as a member of the Tribe to make
it more accessible to Tribal members.
"Because I have seen both sides of
the Tribal Court system, I think I can
help people better understand how
to use the system," said Fasana. "I
can help attorneys better understand
that we are a legitimate court and I
can help Tribal members get a bet
ter understanding of how we can
help them. I understand both sides,
so I have this window..."
SMOKE SIGNALS is available to anyone at no cost.
Fill out this form with your name and address, mail to:
Smoke Signals, Attn: Justin Phillips
9615 Grand Ronde Road Grand Ronde, OR 97347
OLD ADDRESS: NEW ADDRESS:
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Court Adds New Opinions
to Tribal Website
Judge English has rendered two new opinions in the last month that
are of important significance to Tribal law. One opinion is titled "In the
matter of B.A. & C.A." and is currently available on the Tribe's website
under Tribal Court, Published Opinions. The other opinion is titled
"Baker vs. Spirit Mountain Casino" and will soon be available on the
Tribe's website.
In the matter of B.A. & C.A. is an Indian Child Welfare case and there
fore the names of the parties must be kept confidential. The initials are
letters that were chosen by Court staff and are not the actual initials of
the parties involved. The children in this case have been in foster care
for approximately 3 years. Because of the length of time the children
have been in foster care, it was necessary for Judge English to decide if
compelling reasons exist not to terminate the parents' rights and free the
children for adoption by their Tribal foster parents. In this case, Judge
English found that compelling reasons did not exist and therefore has
ordered the Indian Child Welfare Program (ICW Program) to file a Peti
tion to terminate the parents' rights. This does not mean that the par
ents' rights are automatically terminated. After the Petition is filed by
the ICW Program, a trial will take place. After the trial, the Judge will
make a determination as to whether the parents' rights should be termi
nated and these children should be freed for adoption. This is the first
case in Tribal Court where the Judge has ordered the ICW Program to
file "a Petition to Terminate Parental Rights.
Baker vs. Spirit Mountain Casino is an employment case involving a
former employee of Spirit Mountain Casino. The employee was termi
nated and her termination was upheld after a hearing in front of an
Internal Review Board. Under the Employment Action Review Ordi
nance, an employee may fill a Petition for Review of Final Employment
Decision with the Tribal Court. This employee filed such petition. Judge
English found that the employee's due process rights were violated be
cause she did not receive adequate notice of the issues that were going to
be addressed at the Internal Review Board Hearing. Because Petitioner's
due process rights were violated, Judge English sent the case back to the
Internal Review Board.
If you would like a copy of either opinion you may download them from
the Tribe's website at www.grandronde.org or contact the Tribal Court
at (503) 879-2303.
Update on Enrollment Cases
As was reported in the previous article, approximately 51 Petitions for
Review of Enrollment Decisions have been filed with the Tribal Court.
The Tribal Attorney's Office has responded to nearly all of the cases.
Pre-trial hearings have been set for October 18th and October 20th, at
9:00 a.m., 10:45 a.m., and 1:30 p.m. The purpose of these pre-trial
hearings is to discuss problems or issues that have come up with the case.
Some of the issues that may be discussed include how the Petition was
filed or whether the applicant provided all the required information in
the Petition.
The Court anticipates having oral argument hearings in November or
December. At the oral argument hearings the applicant will have the
opportunity to present their argument to the Judge as to why the deci
sion of the Enrollment Committee was arbitrary or capricious or how
their Constitutional rights were violated. As reported in the previous
article, all Enrollment hearings are open to the public.
Tribal members can cccccs
44 attorneys end 17 psrcle-jab ct 11 Oregon offices.
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