Shutting Down DAPL

Aided by a brief filed by the Environmental Advocacy Clinic, a federal judge ordered the shutdown of the Hillary Hoffmann Dakota Access Pipeline in July. Vermont Law School Professors Hillary Hoffmann and Ken Rumelt LLM’12, along with Environmental Advocacy Clinic Director Jim Murphy LLM’06, contributed to the historic July ruling. They filed a “friend of the court” amicus brief in the case earlier this summer on behalf of 37 members of Congress, including Senators Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, and Representatives Raul Grijalva, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Debra Haaland (Pueblo of Laguna), and other champions of indigenous rights.

“This is a victory for good government and protection of our waters and other resources,” said Hoffmann. “And above all, it gives a voice to the marginalized communities who are most directly affected by major federal actions like the approval of potentially dangerous pipelines.”

This is a victory for good government and protection of our waters and other resources. And above all, it gives a voice to the marginalized communities who are most directly affected by major federal actions.

Professor Hillary Hoffmann

Hoffman, an expert on federal Indian law, natural resources law, and public lands law, also released a new book this summer detailing the history, context, and future of the ongoing legal fight to protect indigenous cultures. Titled A Third Way: Decolonizing the Laws of Indigenous Cultural Protection, the book discusses how tribes are reshaping various laws in a way that protects and invigorates their own cultural values.