Burning Questions: Changing Legal Narratives on Cannabis in Indian Country

In the not-so-distant past, thoughts of Cannabis legalization in the United States were radical. In the present day, the narratives around Cannabis are changing. The term “present day” affixes this Article to early 2023, a snapshot in time. To understand the current legal narratives surrounding Cannabis, and what they might become in the future, it is important to examine the history of Cannabis law and policy in United States. This Article begins by discussing Cannabis regulation in the United States, from the rise of federal regulation to the gradual deregulation by states with tacit federal consent. The Article then examines the jurisdictional conflicts between tribes and states for tribes that attempt to decriminalize Cannabis on the reservation with specific attention paid to enforcement of criminal laws on reservation, regulation of commercial activity, and regulations regarding cannabis research in Indian Country. This Article then examines the recent marijuana policy statement issued by the Biden administration and current Congressional activity, including their possible implications for Cannabis in Indian Country and issues to watch. Finally, this Article concludes with a call to recognize the self-determination of tribes in establishing and enforcing their own Cannabis policies on reservation land

It\u27s None of Your Business: State Regulation of Tribal Business Undermines Sovereignty and Justice

The U.S. Constitution grants the federal government plenary power over American Indian affairs, yet states are increasingly attempting to assert regulatory and tax jurisdiction over tribal businesses. This overreach threatens tribal sovereignty and contravenes the terms of treaties entered between the United States and American Indian tribes. This Article begins by examining the legal foundations of federal, state, and tribal relations. It then examines recent cases across four business sectors - gaming, tobacco sales, petroleum sales, and online lending - in order to illustrate the pervasive jurisdictional challenges faced by courts in cases involving tribal businesses. This Article offers three recommendations. First, it argues that the proper first forum for resolving disputes involving tribal businesses is the tribal court system; federal and state courts should be prepared to consider this issue sua sponte if it is not raised by the parties. Second, this Article calls for periodic, systematic audits of federal compliance with Indian treaties, which should evaluate both the federal government’s activities and the federal government’s obligation to prevent state interference with tribes’ treaty-protected rights. Finally, in light of recent legislative proposals and executive actions, this Article asserts that removing barriers to American Indian participation in the political process at all levels will support economic development and self-determination in Indian Country. We contend that all Americans—indigenous or not—have a stake in seeing the federal government uphold its constitutional and treaty-bound commitments to American Indian tribes

Resurfacing Sovereignty: Who Regulates Surface Mining In Indian Country After McGirt?

This article examines disputes over surface mining jurisdiction on the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation post-McGirt and the larger implications for sovereignty and environmental justice in Indian Country that follow. Part II summarizes the history of federal, state, and tribal relations and provides an analysis of the McGirt decision and its potential impacts on natural resource issues. Part III offers an examination of jurisdictional uncertainties post-McGirt through an in-depth discussion of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act and the State of Oklahoma v. United States Department of the Interior case. Drawing from the examination of surface mining regulation, Part IV looks more broadly at the implications for sovereignty and environmental justice in Indian Country. This article concludes by advocating approaches for strengthening tribal sovereignty and promoting tribes as producers of extractive and energy resources

A Prograde, Low-Inclination Orbit for the Very Hot Jupiter WASP-3b

We present new spectroscopic and photometric observations of the transiting exoplanetary system WASP-3. Spectra obtained during two separate transits exhibit the Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) effect and allow us to estimate the sky-projected angle between the planetary orbital axis and the stellar rotation axis, lambda = 3.3^{+2.5}_{-4.4} degrees. This alignment between the axes suggests that WASP-3b has a low orbital inclination relative to the equatorial plane of its parent star. During our first night of spectroscopic measurements, we observed an unexpected redshift briefly exceeding the expected sum of the orbital and RM velocities by 140 m/s. This anomaly could represent the occultation of material erupting from the stellar photosphere, although it is more likely to be an artifact caused by moonlight scattered into the spectrograph.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures, Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal, Replacement includes revised citation

A numerical approach to finding general stationary vacuum black holes

The Harmonic Einstein equation is the vacuum Einstein equation supplemented by a gauge fixing term which we take to be that of DeTurck. For static black holes analytically continued to Riemannian manifolds without boundary at the horizon this equation has previously been shown to be elliptic, and Ricci flow and Newton's method provide good numerical algorithms to solve it. Here we extend these techniques to the arbitrary cohomogeneity stationary case which must be treated in Lorentzian signature. For stationary spacetimes with globally timelike Killing vector the Harmonic Einstein equation is elliptic. In the presence of horizons and ergo-regions it is less obviously so. Motivated by the Rigidity theorem we study a class of stationary black hole spacetimes, considered previously by Harmark, general enough to include the asymptotically flat case in higher dimensions. We argue the Harmonic Einstein equation consistently truncates to this class of spacetimes giving an elliptic problem. The Killing horizons and axes of rotational symmetry are boundaries for this problem and we determine boundary conditions there. As a simple example we numerically construct 4D rotating black holes in a cavity using Anderson's boundary conditions. We demonstrate both Newton's method and Ricci flow to find these Lorentzian solutions.Comment: 43 pages, 7 figure

Two decades of community-based conservation yield valuable insights into marine turtle nesting ecology

For the Western Indian Ocean region, there is a significant knowledge gap regarding marine turtle nesting on the continental coast of East Africa. Here we present results from a long-term (2000-2020) community-based monitoring programme in and around Watamu Marine National Park, Kenya, covering 30 km of coastline (c. 6% of the national total). Conservation actions effectively protected nesting turtles and resulted in a near-total cessation of illegal egg harvesting in Watamu Marine National Park. Collected data indicate this is an important marine turtle nesting index site in Kenya and the wider region. Green turtle Chelonia mydas nests were most common (95%), followed by olive ridley turtles Lepidochelys olivacea (4%), with occasional nests of hawksbill Eretmochelys imbricata and leatherback turtles Dermochelys coriacea. Clutches per season increased significantly over the 20-year monitoring period for green turtles (50%) and showed a positive trend for olive ridley turtles. Watamu remains an area at risk from human pressures such as coastal development. Clutch distribution along the Watamu Marine National Park beach has shifted over time, probably because of coastal development and disturbance. Illegal take of adults and eggs continues in areas north and south of the Watamu Marine National Park, possibly slowing rates of recovery. Clutches deemed at risk were moved to a safe location within the National Park, and hatching success was high. Continued conservation efforts, including wider engagement with stakeholders to reduce human pressures, are needed to ensure the perpetuation of this nesting site.Peer reviewe

Quantization of fermions on Kerr space-time

We study a quantum fermion field on a background nonextremal Kerr black hole. We discuss the definition of the standard black hole quantum states (Boulware, Unruh, and Hartle-Hawking), focussing particularly on the differences between fermionic and bosonic quantum field theory. Since all fermion modes (both particle and antiparticle) have positive norm, there is much greater flexibility in how quantum states are defined compared with the bosonic case. In particular, we are able to define a candidate Boulware-like state, empty at both past and future null infinity, and a candidate Hartle-Hawking-like equilibrium state, representing a thermal bath of fermions surrounding the black hole. Neither of these states have analogues for bosons on a nonextremal Kerr black hole and both have physically attractive regularity properties. We also define a number of other quantum states, numerically compute differences in expectation values of the fermion current and stress-energy tensor between two states, and discuss their physical properties

Bound states of the Dirac equation on Kerr spacetime

We formulate the Dirac equation for a massive neutral spin-half particle on a rotating black hole spacetime, and we consider its (quasi)bound states: gravitationally-trapped modes which are regular across the future event horizon. These bound states decay with time, due to the absence of superradiance in the (single-particle) Dirac field. We introduce a practical method for computing the spectrum of energy levels and decay rates, and we compare our numerical results with known asymptotic results in the small-Mμ and large-Mμ regimes. By applying perturbation theory in a horizon-penetrating coordinate system, we compute the 'fine structure' of the energy spectrum and find good agreement with numerical results. We obtain data for a hyperfine splitting due to black hole rotation. We evolve generic initial data in the time domain, and show how Dirac bound states appear as spectral lines in the power spectra. In the rapidly-rotating regime, we find that the decay of low-frequency co-rotating modes is suppressed in the (bosonic) superradiant regime. We conclude with a discussion of physical implications and avenues for further work

International Pediatric ORL Group (IPOG) laryngomalacia consensus recommendations

Objective To provide recommendations for the comprehensive management of young infants who present with signs or symptoms concerning for laryngomalacia. Methods Expert opinion by the members of the International Pediatric Otolaryngology Group (IPOG). Results Consensus recommendations include initial care and triage recommendations for health care providers who commonly evaluate young infants with noisy breathing. The consensus statement also provides comprehensive care recommendations for otolaryngologists who manage young infants with laryngomalacia including: evaluation and treatment considerations for commonly debated issues in laryngomalacia, initial work-up of infants presenting with inspiratory stridor, treatment recommendations based on disease severity, management of the infant with feeding difficulties, post-surgical treatment management recommendations, and suggestions for acid suppression therapy. Conclusion Laryngomalacia care consensus recommendations are aimed at improving patient-centered care in infants with laryngomalacia