The Washington Post - USA (2022-03-01)

A6 EZ RE THEWASHINGTONPOST.TUESDAY,MARCH 1 , 2022

BYROBERTBARNES

TheSupremeCourtwillcon-
sidertheconstitutionalityofa
federallawintended torectify
pastabusesof NativeAmerican
children beingremoved from
theirhomesandtribes,thejus-
ticesannouncedMonday.
Thecourtconsolidated four
casesaboutthe 1978 IndianChild
WelfareAct(ICWA), whichprior-
itizesplacementofIndianchil-
drenwithrelatives,otherNative
Americansor atribe.Theact was
intendedto stoppastpracticesin
whichhundredsof thousandsof
NativeAmericanchildrenwere
removed fromtheir homes by

adoption agencies and placed

withWhitefamiliesorin group

settings.

NativeAmericanssaythelaw

isessentialto them and have

pledged to defendit.

“Weknowtheimportanceof

keepingourchildrenconnected

withtheirfamilies,communities,

andheritage. ICWAhasproven

itselfas thegold standardof child

welfarelaw,whichis whyboth

RepublicanandDemocratic ad-

ministrations,tribes andtribal

organizations,andchildwelfare

expertscontinue todefendit,”

Cherokee NationPrincipalChief

ChuckHoskinJr.andthreeother

triballeaderssaidin astatement.

“Wewillnever acceptareturn

to atimewhenourchildrenwere

forciblyremovedfromourcom-

munities, andlook forward to

fighting for ICWA before the

Court,”the statementsaid.

Thelawis beingchallenged by

seven individuals and three

states,ledby Te xas.Theplaintiffs

contendthelawrequires state

officialstoputasidethetradi-

tionalstandardof doingwhatis

bestfor thechild,andtheysay it

violatestheConstitution’s prom-

iseof equalprotection.

“ICWA operatesas aunified

schemethatplaces‘Indianchil-

dren’inadisfavoredposition,

deprivingthemofaplacement

decisionbasedon theirbestinter-

ests, andinsteadrequiringplace-

ments”basedonthechild’s biolo-

gy,theindividualplaintiffs told

thecourtintheir filing.

Non-Indianadoptiveparents

endup“lastinlineto adoptan

Indianchild,”thefilingsaid,be-

hind amemberof the child’s

extendedfamily,othermembers

of the child’s tribe and other

families“from anyoneof the

other573Indiantribes,regard-

lessof whetherthetribehasany

connectionto thechild.”

LouisianaandIndianaarealso

amongthechallengers.Thelawis

beingdefendedbytheBidenad-

ministrationandtriballeaders.

AllsidesaskedtheSupreme

Courttogetinvolvedafterthe

U.S. CourtofAppealsforthe5th

Circuitdelivereda325-pagerul-

ingonthelawthatsplitevenlyon

someissuesandincludedopin-

ionsfromsixjudges.

In ahigh-profile2013 case,the

SupremeCourtruled5to4that

theICWAdidnotcommandthat

achildwhobecameknownas

“Baby Veronica” mustremain

withherbirth father,amemberof

atribe,afterthechildwasgiven

upbeforebirth.Butthecasedid

notcallforthecourttodecidethe

constitutionalityofthe law.

Native American lawhas

playedalargerroleintheSu-

premeCourt’sdecisionsof late.

Thecourtannouncedin Janu-

arythatitwillconsiderlimitinga

controversial 2020 decisionthat

greatlyexpandedtheamountof

Indian landin Oklahomaand

disruptedcriminalprosecutions

in thearea.

Butthejusticesdeclinedthe

state’srequesttooverturn its

decisioninMcGirtv. Oklahoma,

whichsidedwithtriballeadersin

findingthatalargeportionof

landintheeasternpartofthe

statequalifiesas anIndianreser-

vation.

Thefourcasesin thefightover

theICWAareconsolidatedunder

Haalandv. Brackeen.

Supreme Court to review law on adoptions of Native American children

BYDANKEATING

More than140millionAmeri-
canshavehadthecoronavirus,
according to estimates from
bloodtests thatrevealantibodies
frominfection—aboutdouble
therateregularlycitedby nation-
al casecounts.
Theestimates,compiledby the
Centers forDiseaseControland
Prevention, show thatabout
43percent ofthecountryhas
beeninfectedbythevirus.The
studyshowsthatthemajorityof
childrenhave alsobeeninfected.
Thedatagoes through late
January, whentheomicronvari-
antof thecoronaviruswascaus-
ingmorethan500,000casesa
day, meaning the numberof
Americansnowinfectedis con-
siderablyhigher.Thedata comes
from72,000bloodsamplestaken
in January.
Thehighlyinfectiousvariant
hascausedcasecountstosky-
rocket.AsoflateNovember, just
beforetheomicronvariantbegan
spreadingintheUnitedStates,
thebloodteststudyestimated
that103millionpeoplehadbeen
infected.Bythatmeasure,37 mil-
lionnewpeoplecaughtthevirus
overtwomonthsendingin late
January.
Everytwo weeks, the CDC
gatherstens of thousands of
bloodtests analyzedbycommer-
ciallabsnationwideforreasons
unrelated to the coronavirus,
suchas checkups or othermedi-
caltreatment.Thosesamplesare

alsotestedforcoronavirusanti-

bodies. Thepercentageofpeople

withantibodiesisknownas sero-

prevalence.

Thebloodteststudyincludes

infectionsthroughoutthepan-

demicbutcounts eachperson

onlyonce.Daily coronaviruscase

rates tallyeveryknowninfection,

somanypeoplewhohavehad

reinfectionsare countedagain

and again. Theestimated

140millionis welloverdouble

thenumberof peopleincludedin

countsbyTheWashingtonPost

or governmentagencies as of late

January.

Theblood testscount only

antibodies from natural infec-

tion,including asymptomatic

cases,not fromvaccination.The

studymeasuresthepresenceof

antibodies.It doesnotindicate

whetherthereis strongprotec-

tion againstsubsequent infec-

tion.

Infectionrates aremuchhigh-

er forchildren and younger

adults, thestudyfound.It esti-

matedthat58percentofchildren

upto age11haveantibodiesfrom

natural infection,alongwiththe

sameshareof childrenage12to

17.

Just under halfof adultsupto

49 havebeeninfected,theCDC

estimates. Theratedrops to

37 percentforpeople 50 to 64

and 23 percentofpeople 65 or

older.

Thecoronavirusis muchdead-

lierforolderpeople.Half of the

peoplewhohave diedof covid- 19

have beenage75orolder.Vacci-

nationandotherpreventivemea-

sureshave beenconcentratedon

themostvulnerableolderpeople.

Younger peoplehave muchlower

vaccinationratesandaremuch

morelikelyto be workingin jobs

orattendingschool, wherethey

riskexposure.

Atleast halfof thepopulation

in 14 states hasbeen infected,

bloodtests showed,from 56 per-

cent in Wisconsin to half in

Georgia.Theotherstates witha

majorityinfectionrate, in de-

scendingorder,are Iowa,Illinois,

Ohio,Wyoming,Texas,Indiana,

Mississippi, Nebraska,Michigan,

NewJersey, TennesseeandLoui-

siana.NewYork is justunderthat

level,at 49percent.

Thelowestinfectionrateisin

Vermont,with 18 percent. The

next-loweststatesinascending

orderareHawaii,Maine,Oregon,

Washington, NewHampshire,

Virginia andMassachusetts,

whichtopstheloweststateswith

37 percent.

Nevadawasnotincludedin

thestudy,andtherewasinsuffi-

cient data for NorthDakota,

ArizonaandUtah.

Initially,tests forseropreva-

lencethatincludedbothnatural

infectionandvaccinationcould

showwhetherthecountrywas

reachingalevel of herd immuni-

ty tocontrolspreadofthedis-

ease.Butprotectionfrominfec-

tionorvaccinationis strongest

foraboutsixmonths,theCDC

hasfound, afterwhichtheriskof

infectiongrowsagain. Thedelta

andomicronvariants—spaced

aboutsixmonthsapart—both

infectedpeoplewhopreviously

hadthevirus.

Just beforetheomicronvari-

ant, aseroprevalencestudythat

includedboth vaccination and

natural infectionfoundantibod-

iesinmorethan 90 percentof

adults,butthatdid notprevent

omicron’s enormous infection

rates,hospitalizationanddeath,

saidKristen Nordlund,aCDC

spokeswoman.

Vaccinationorexposure to the

coronavirusmayhavereduced

thedeadlinessandseverityofthe

omicronwave,Nordlundsaid.

Scientists still can’t explain

whysomepeoplegetthevirus

andothersdo not.ACDCstudyof

disease spread within house-

holdsduringtheomicronwave

foundthat53percentof people

in ahouseholdwithaninfected

personalso caught the virus.

Vaccination,mask-wearingand

isolation withinthe household

all reduced transmission and

protectedothermembersof the

household. Buteveninhouse-

holdswithoutisolation,vaccina-

tionor mask-wearing,not every-

onecaughtit.

Another study ofseropreva-

lencethatexaminedacommuni-

ty afteracoronaviruswavealso

foundthatitpickedsomepeople

andskippedothers,saidWilliam

Powderly,headoftheInstitute

forPublicHealthat Washington

UniversityofSt. Louis.

Thewavedissipated even

thoughavastmajorityofpeople

tested showed no antibodies,

Powderlysaid,so theyweresus-

ceptible to the disease raging

aroundthembutdidn’t catchit.

“Shouldn’t it justcut through

everybodyand find everybody

who is vulnerable?” he won-

dered.“Thetransmissiondy-

namicsofthisvirus are not

completelyworkedout....There

isvariabilityinthe virusand

variabilityinthepopulation.”

Astowhat willhappennext,

he said,scientists haveto ac-

knowledge“thenecessaryhumil-

ity. Ijustthinkwedon’t know.”

140 million Americans have had virus, latest blood test samples indicate

Source:Centersfor DiseaseControland Prevention DANKEATING/THEWASHINGTON POST

Percentof peoplewhohave had the coronavirus

Bloodtestsanalyzedbythe Centersfor DiseaseControl and Prevention

indicate43 percent of Americanshave had the coronavirusoverthe

course of the pandemic,from arange of 56 percentin Wisconsin down

to 18 percentin Vermont.Atleast halfofthe peoplein14 states

have beeninfected.

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BYROBERTBARNES

SomeoftheSupremeCourt’s
conservative justicesseemed
skepticalMondaythattheEnvi-
ronmentalProtectionAgency
canproceedwithsweepingregu-
lationof climate-warmingemis-
sionsfrom thenation’s power
plantswithoutclearerauthority
fromCongress.
Suchafindingwouldbein
step withthejustices’worrythat
federalagenciesareexceeding
thepowersgrantedto them.But
it would beahugeblowforthe
Bidenadministration,which has
ambitiousplans to drastically
cutemissionsandwouldlike the
U.S. powergridtorunentirelyon
cleanenergyby2035.
InMonday’s two-hourhear-
ing,JusticeSamuel A.AlitoJr.
indicated thatthe ambitious
plansof theadministrationim-
plicatedthe“majorquestions”
doctrine.
That saysagenciesundertak-
ingsuchactionsmustbeclearly
authorizedbyCongress, rather
thanrelyingongenerallanguage
infederal law,inthiscasethe
CleanAir Act.
HesaidtheEPAisclaiming
“authority to setindustrial policy
andenergypolicyandbalance
suchthingsasjobs, economic
impact,the potentially cata-
strophic effects of climate
change, as wellascosts.”
Solicitor General Elizabeth B.
Prelogarsaidthatthelawdoes
limit whattheagencycando.
Therealproblem,shesaid,is
thattheadministrationhasnot
formulated itsregulationsand
won’t beforetheendoftheyear.
Butshedidnotseemtobe
havingmuchluckin convincing
thecourt thatitshouldwaituntil
theregulationscomeoutbefore
decidingtheparametersofthe
EPA’sauthority.
WestVirginia v. EPAis the
latestbattlepittingthecoal in-
dustry andRepublican-led states
againstaDemocraticadminis-
trationthatproposessweeping
changes to thewaythenation’s
power sectorproduceselectrici-
ty,the nation’s second-largest
sourceofclimate-warmingpol-
lution.
ThecurrentSupremeCourtis
evenmore conservativethanthe
one thatstoppedthe Obama
administration’s plantodrasti-
callyreducepowerplants’ car-

bonoutputin 2016.

Theplanneverwentintoef-

fect, butitsemissionreduction

goalsweremet aheadof schedule

becauseof economicconditions

thatmadecoal-fired plantsmore

expensive.

Amorelenientplanwaspro-

mulgatedby theTrumpadminis-

tration,whichsaidits readingof

thelawlimitedtheEPA’sactions

to regulatingemissionsat aspe-

cificsiteinsteadofacrossthe

system, arestrictionthathas

cometo beknownas“insidethe

fence.”

But on thelastdayof the

Trumpadministration,adivided

panel of theU.S.Court of Appeals

fortheD.C.Circuitsaidthat was

anintentional“misreading”of

thelaw.

“The EPAhas amplediscretion

in carryingoutits mandate,”the

decisionconcluded.“Butit may

not shirkitsresponsibilityby

imaginingnewlimitationsthat

theplainlanguage of thestatute

doesnot clearlyrequire.”

Asaresult,theTrumprules

werestruck, theObamarules

werenot reinstated and the

Bidenadministrationhasyetto

formulate itsplan—whichwas

whyPrelogarsaid thecourt

shouldholdoffonanymomen-

tousdecision.

Whatthe Republican states

andcoalindustrywant, shesaid,

“isadecisionto constrain EPA’s

authorityintheupcomingrule-

making. That is theverydefini-

tionofanadvisoryopinion,

which thecourtshould declineto

issue.”

LindsayS.See,WestVirginia’s

solicitor general,said it was

importantforthecourttoad-

dress theD.C.Circuit’s rulingon

theEPA’s authority.

Asaresult of that ruling, she

said, “EPAcannowregulate in

ways thatcostbillionsof dollars,

affectthousands ofbusinesses

andaredesignedtoaddressan

issue withworldwide effect. This

is majorpolicymakingpower

underanydefinition.”

WashingtonlawyerJacobM.

Roth,representingcoal-mining

interests,alsoclaimedtheEPA

wasexceedingitsauthority.

TheEPAwants to “effectively

dictatenot onlythetechnical

details of howacoalplantoper-

ates but also the big-picture

policyofhowthenationgener-

ates itselectricity,” Rothsaid.

JusticeElenaKagansaidit

madenosensetosaythelaw

authorizes “insidethefence”reg-

ulation but not “outside the

fence”asawaytolimitthe

agency’sauthority.

“Thereare inside-the-fence

technological fixesthatcould

drivetheentirecoalindustry out

of business tomorrow,” Kagan

saidto See.“A ndanoutside-the-

fencerulecouldbeverysmallor

it could be verylarge.”

“Sotherulethatyou’resaying

sortofemerges fromthisstatute,

which is aninside-the-fence/out-

side-the-fencerule,bearsnonec-

essaryrelationshipto whethera

ruleis majorinyoursenseof

expensive,costly,destructiveto

thecoal industry,”Kagansaid.

If thecoalindustrywas onone

sideatthecourt, someofthe

nation’slargestpowerplants

wereon theother,supporting

thefederal government. Wash-

ingtonlawyer Beth S. Brink-

manntoldthejusticesthatthe

industryhas investedheavilyin

reducingemissionsandthatthe

EPAneeded flexibility beyond

regulatingconditions in individ-

ualplants.

“Congressdirectedtheexpert

agencytolookto reality whenit

makes theempiricaldetermina-

tionofthebestsystemof emis-

sionreduction,”shesaid.

Still, thejusticesreturnedto

theissueofwhethertherewas

clearauthority.

Thecourt in Januarystopped

theBidenadministration’s plans

foravaccine-or-testingmandate

forlargeemployers,proposedby

theOccupational Safety and

Health Administration.Andlast

summerit ruledagainstextend-

inganationwideevictionmora-

toriumduringthepandemicput

in placebytheCentersforDis-

easeControlandPrevention.

In both,ChiefJusticeJohnG.

Roberts Jr.said,the executive

branchwasproposing massive

programsthatseemed to go

beyondtheagency’scharge.

Justice Brett M.Kavanaugh

suggestedtheEPAmightrunup

against thesameproblem.

“Onething we saidisthat

Congressmustspeakclearlyifit

wishesto assignanagency deci-

sionsof vast economicandpoliti-

cal significance,” Kavanaugh

said.“Andthesecondthingwe

saidisthatthecourt greets with

ameasureofskepticismwhen

agencies claimto have foundin a

longextantstatuteanunherald-

ed powerto regulate asignificant

portionoftheAmericanecono-

my.”

Prelogar counteredthat the

SupremeCourtpreviouslyfound

thatCongressexpectedtheEPA

to regulate existingpowerplants

forgreenhouse gasemissions.

This “isrightinEPA’swheel-

house becausethiscourtalready

recognizedthatCongresscon-

ferredonEPA, theexpertagency,

theauthorityheretomakethose

judgments,”shesaid.

Justices cast doubt on EPA’s powers on emissions rules

DANERHYS/BLOOMBERGNEWS

Homes near the coal-fired John E. Amospower plant in Poca,W.Va.,inFebruary.WestVirginia v. EPAisthe latest battle pitting the coal

industryand Republican-ledstatesagainst aDemocratic administration that proposes sweeping changes to the nation’s powersector.