Contact Information
Ph.:
505-277-1119
Office:
3210
paul.spruhan@law.unm.edu
Profile
Paul Spruhan is an Assistant Professor in the Law and Indigenous Peoples Program at the University of New Mexico School of Law. From October 2008 to October 2024, he was Assistant Attorney General at the Navajo Nation Department of Justice in Window Rock, Arizona. In that capacity, he litigated civil cases in federal, Navajo Nation, and state courts on a wide range of issues, including tribal sovereignty, environmental regulation, and labor and employment. He also drafted and negotiated contracts and intergovernmental agreements with private parties and state and federal agencies. He received his A.B. in 1995 and his A.M. in 1996 from the University of Chicago. He received his J.D. in 2000 from the University of New Mexico. He and his wife, Bidtah Becker, have two children and live in Fort Defiance on the Navajo Nation.Courses
Content forthcoming.Publications
Law Review Articles
CDIB: The Role of the Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood in Defining Native American Legal Identity, 6 Am. Indian L. J. 169 (2018). Available at: UNM-DR
“Indians, in a Jurisdictional Sense”: Tribal Citizenship and Other Forms of Non-Indian Consent to Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction, 1 Am. Indian L. J. 79 (2012). Available at: UNM-DR
The Origins, Current Status, and Future Prospects of Blood Quantum as the Definition of Membership in the Navajo Nation, 8 Tribal L. J. 1 (2007-08). Available at: UNM-DR
Indian as Race/Indian as Political Status: Implementation of the Half-Blood Requirement under the Indian Reorganization Act, 1934-1945, 8 Rutgers Race & the L. Rev. 27 (2006). Available at: UNM-DR
A Legal History of Blood Quantum in Federal Indian Law to 1935, 51 S.D. L. Rev. 1 (2006). Available at: UNM-DR
Legal Professional Publications
Tribal Labor and Employment Law: The Evolution of the Navajo Preference in Employment Act, Ariz. Att'y Mag., July/Aug 2022, at 44. Available at: UNM-DR
Briefs
Brief for The Navajo Nation, Tsosie v. Northern Apache County Special Healthcare District, No. NNLC 2023-010 (Navajo Nation Lab. Comm'n Dec. 8, 2023).
Available at: UNM-DR (https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facultyscholarship/977/)
Brief for The Navajo Nation et al. as Amici Curiae Supporting Petitioners, Lac de Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians v. Coughlin, 599 U.S. 382 (2023) (No. 22-227).
Available at: UNM-DR (https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facultyscholarship/978/)
Brief for the Navajo Nation, et al. as Amici Curiae Supporting Respondent, Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, 597 U.S. 629 (2022) (No. 21-429).
Available at: UNM-DR (https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facultyscholarship/973/)
Response Brief of Appellee Navajo Nation, Public Service Co. of New Mexico v. Barboan, 857 F.3d 1101 (10th Cir. 2017), cert. denied, 138 S. Ct. 695 (2018).
Available at: UNM-DR (https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facultyscholarship/974/)
Brief for The Navajo Nation as Amicus Curiae, Lee v. Tuba City Regional Health Care Corp., No. SC-CV-37-14 (Navajo Nation Sup. Ct. Aug. 28, 2015).
Available at: UNM-DR (https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facultyscholarship/975/)
Appellants' Opening Brief, Window Rock Unified School Dist. v. Reeves, 861 F.3d 894 (9th Cir. 2017), cert. denied, 138 S. Ct. 648 (2018) (Nos. 13-16259, 13-16278).
Available at: UNM-DR (https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facultyscholarship/976/)
