Opinion ID: 2617717
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Application of State Statutes of Limitations to Section 1914 of ICWA

Text: Section 1914 provides that any parent or Indian custodian from whose custody [an Indian] child has been removed ... may petition any court of competent jurisdiction to invalidate such action upon a showing that such action violated any provision of the sections 1911, 1912, and 1913 of this title. Section 1914 does not set forth any time limitations for such a collateral attack. The only time limitations mentioned in the Act are in § 1913(d). Section 1913(d) provides that once an adoption decree is final, the parent may withdraw an otherwise valid consent to an adoption on the grounds that the consent was obtained through fraud or duress if the petition to vacate the decree is made within two years unless a longer period is allowed under state law. [11] Judge Carlson found that since ICWA was silent as to statutes of limitations, except in the narrow situation specified in 1913(d), actions under § 1914 are governed by AS 25.23.140(b). [12] LJJ argues that incorporation of the one-year statute of limitation would frustrate the legislative intent of ensuring that voluntary consents to the termination of parental rights meet minimum federal procedural safeguards. In particular, LJJ argues that a short stateimposed statute of limitations would essentially prevent the challenge of many adoptions made in violation of ICWA. The United States Supreme Court has consistently held that [w]hen Congress has not established a time limitation for a federal cause of action, the settled practice [is] to adopt a local time limitation as federal law if it is not inconsistent with federal law or policy to do so. Wilson v. Garcia, 471 U.S. 261, 266-67, 105 S.Ct. 1938, 1941-42, 85 L.Ed.2d 254, 260 (1985). [13] The resolution of whether § 1914 incorporates state statutes of limitations thus centers on whether the one-year Alaska statute obstructs or frustrates the purposes of ICWA. Similarly, under a federal preemption analysis of whether § 1914 prevents application of state law, we apply the following analysis: first, looking to the policy, intent, and context of the federal statute, whether the state regulation is expressly or implicitly preempted, second, even if no declaration is found, whether the statutes conflict to the extent that (1) it is impossible to comply simultaneously with the dual regulation or (2) the state regulation obstructs the execution of the purpose of the federal regulation. Webster v. Bechtel, 621 P.2d 890, 897 (Alaska 1980). As to the first prong, Congress clearly did not preempt the entire field of family law relating to Indian children. Rather, Congress sought to impose certain minimum federal standards to ensure that Indian families and Indian culture were respected in child welfare decisions. Thus, under both a preemption analysis and the Wilson test, the resolution of this issue centers on whether § 1914 conflicts with the state statute of limitations so as to obstruct or frustrate the purpose of ICWA. It is clear that Congress intended state statutes of limitations to govern the withdrawal of valid consents under the Act. Section 1913(d) provides for one exception to the application of state statutes of limitation by allowing collateral attacks on consents obtained through fraud or duress for at least two years after the final decree of adoption. The legislative history makes clear that [t]his right is limited to two years after entry of the the decree unless a longer period is provided by state law. H.R. No. 95-1386, 95th Cong., 2d Sess. 23 (1978), reprinted in 1978 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 7530, 7545-46. It is therefore clear that Congress realized that state statutes of limitations might bar withdrawal of valid consents earlier than two years after the decree and wished to establish an exception to those limitations in cases of fraud or duress. The critical issue is whether Congress intended state statutes of limitations to apply to § 1914 actions to set aside consents which are invalid under the terms of the Act. LJJ cites to one commentary on the Act which argues that invalid consents under § 1913 are void as a matter of law and not subject to state statutes of limitations. These commentators argue: No specific federal statute of limitations is provided for suits brought pursuant to section 1914. It is thus possible that in many instances a parent's collateral attack upon the state decree would be barred by a state statute of limitations. However, with respect to decrees entered in violation of two particular provisions of ICWA, there may be no time limit on the bringing of a suit. In those child custody proceedings in which the tribal court had exclusive jurisdiction pursuant to subsection 1911(a), any state court orders or decrees would be void ab initio. Similarly, since parental consent obtained in violation of the ICWA is invalid as a matter of law, any subsequent state court order for foster care or adoptive placement predicated on that defective consent should likewise be void. It would seem, therefore, that if these particular violations of the Act render the state court orders or decrees void, such void orders and decrees could be vacated by another court at any time. Trentadue and DeMontigny, The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978: A Practitioner's Perspective, 62 N.D.L.Rev. 487, 536 (1986) (footnotes omitted). We disagree with these commentators' analysis. We initially note they do not cite any case law, nor have we found any authority, [14] for their proposition that consents in violation of ICWA can be set aside at any time. More importantly, however, it would be inconsistent to allow a collateral attack on a consent in violation of ICWA to be brought at any time but only allow collateral attacks on consents which are the product of fraud or duress within two years of the adoption decree. Fraud and duress are evils at least as serious as violations of the procedural protections contained in ICWA. A consent obtained in violation of § 1913 of ICWA should not be more questionable than a consent obtained through fraud or duress. Since Congress clearly intended that state statutes of limitations would apply to actions pursuant to § 1913(d) it is logical to assume that state statutes of limitations also apply to § 1914 actions. If Congress had intended to establish a minimum time for bringing § 1914 actions, it would have mandated a statutory minimum as it did in § 1913(d). This conclusion is buttressed by the fact that a number of other important federal statutes have been construed to incorporate state statutes of limitations. For example, the United States Supreme Court has held that state statutes of limitations apply to civil rights actions under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Wilson, 471 U.S. at 268, 105 S.Ct. at 1942; Board of Regents v. Tomanio, 446 U.S. 478, 483-84, 100 S.Ct. 1790, 1794-95, 64 L.Ed.2d 440 (1980). State statutes of limitations have been applied to a number of other important federal causes of action. See, e.g., Ernst & Ernst v. Hochfelder, 425 U.S. 185, 210 n. 29, 96 S.Ct. 1375, 1389 n. 29, 47 L.Ed.2d 668 (1976) (section 10(b) actions under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934); Hawaii Carpenters' Trust v. Waiola Carpenter Shop, 627 F. Supp. 237, 243-44 (D.Hawaii 1985) (Employee Retirement Income Security Act actions). As a matter of policy, both the two-year federal statute of limitations in § 1913(d) and the one-year limitation in AS 25.23.140 recognize that at some point adoptions must become final. To allow collateral attacks on final adoption decrees at any time threatens to unreasonably disrupt the upbringing of the adopted child. AS 25.23.140 is a strong policy statement by the Alaska Legislature that an adoption decree should not be challenged on any ground after one year. Section 1914 seeks to enforce important federal procedural rights contained in ICWA. However, this interest must be balanced against the adoptive family's interests. At some point, the adopted child's relations with his or her adoptive parents needs protection from further disruption. LJJ argues that the United States Supreme Court's recent decision in Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield, ___ U.S. ___, 109 S.Ct. 1597, 104 L.Ed.2d 29 (1989), precludes application of state statutes of limitations since such a result would disrupt uniform nationwide application of ICWA. The Supreme Court's decision in Holyfield centered on the question of whether state law governed the definition of domicile in § 1911(a) of ICWA. This section establishes exclusive jurisdiction in the tribal courts for proceedings concerning an Indian child who resides or is domiciled within the reservation of such tribe. 25 U.S.C. § 1911(a) (Supp. 1987). The Court first noted that the proper construction of the term domicile as used in ICWA was a matter of federal law, reasoning that Congress did not intend such a critical jurisdictional term to be defined by reference to varying state laws. The Court concluded that Mississippi law defining domicile was inconsistent with generally accepted doctrine in this country and cannot be what Congress had in mind when it used the term in the ICWA. ___ U.S. at ___, 109 S.Ct. at 1608. The Court therefore vacated the state court adoption decree, holding that the Choctaw tribal court had exclusive jurisdiction over the adoption pursuant to ICWA. ___ U.S. at ___, 109 S.Ct. at 1610-11. In their dissent, Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Stevens and Kennedy expressed concern that the Court's interpretation of domicile renders any custody decision made by a state court suspect, susceptible to challenge at any time as void for having been entered in the absence of jurisdiction. [15] ___ U.S. ___, 109 S.Ct. at 1616. LJJ argues that the Court's reasoning dictates that a consent to adoption made in violation of § 1913(a) is likewise subject to challenge at any time. We disagree. We initially note that the § 1914 action in Holyfield was brought by the Tribe within two months of the state court's adoption decree. ___ U.S. at ___, 109 S.Ct. at 1603. As a result, the majority in Holyfield did not reach the issue of the time limits for such a motion since the § 1914 action was brought in a timely manner. [16] More importantly, however, unlike the state chancery court in Holyfield, the superior court in the case at bar had jurisdiction over the adoption when it issued its decree. [17] We do not equate a decree made without jurisdiction with a decree based on a consent allegedly made in violation of a non-jurisdictional provision of ICWA. [18] It is well-settled law that decrees issued by a court without jurisdiction are void and generally may be set aside if relief is sought within a reasonable time. Restatement (Second) of Judgments §§ 65, 69 (1982); C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil § 2862, at 198-200 (1973). The same is not true of erroneous judgments. Title v. United States, 263 F.2d 28, 31 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 359 U.S. 989, 79 S.Ct. 1118, 3 L.Ed.2d 978 (1959); Bowers v. Board of Appeals, 16 Mass. App. 29, 448 N.E.2d 1293, 1295, review denied, 389 Mass. 1104, 451 N.E.2d 1167 (1983); Wright & Miller, supra § 2862, at 198-200. We therefore conclude that ICWA incorporates state statutes of limitations except in challenges based on fraud or duress which are governed by the two-year statute of limitations in § 1913(d). Since LJJ does not raise any allegation of fraud or duress, [19] we conclude that application of a state statute of limitations is appropriate to determine whether LJJ's challenge to the adoption decree is time barred.