House Passes Tribal Law and Order Act

Yesterday, the U.S. House approved the Tribal Law and Order Act, legislation aimed at improving all aspects of the justice system on Indian reservations and clearing up jurisdictional confusion among tribal, state and local law enforcement officials.

The legislation was included as part of H.R. 725, the Indian Arts and Crafts bill, which received a 326-92 vote. It passed the Senate last month. It is now on its way to President Obama, who is expected to sign it.

The bill was authored by U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, who describes the legislation as a response to a “crisis” in Indian Country law enforcement.

On many reservations, violent crime rates are far higher than the national average. On the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, for instance, the rate was 8.6 times higher in 2008.

Violence against Native American women has reached epidemic levels, with more than one in three being a victim of rape and two in five that will suffer domestic or partner violence in their lifetimes, as reported by the Department of Justice and Centers for Disease Control.

Getting the bill enacted has been one of Dorgan’s top priorities as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

“Every American has a right to live in a safe community. That certainly includes the First Americans,” he said in a press release issued yesterday by the committee.

“The legislation takes several steps toward creating better federal accountability over Indian Country crime,” Stacy Leeds, professor and Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and director of the Tribal Law and Government Center at the University of Kansas School of Law, told AIR.

For example, federal officials have declined to prosecute more than 50 percent of violent crimes in Indian Country. The bill requires the DOJ to maintain data on criminal declinations and share evidence with tribal justice officials when a case is declined.

It also requires Indian Health Service facilities to implement consistent sexual assault protocols and requires federal officials to provide documents and testimony gained in the course of their federal duties to aid in prosecutions before tribal courts.

“The portion of the new legislation which will be most newsworthy to tribal communities is that the legislation amended the Indian Civil Rights Act's previous sentencing limitations on tribal court,” Leeds said.

Under the Civil Rights Act, tribal courts have the authority to sentence an offender to no more than one year in prison. The new legislation increases the maximum to three years.

The legislation includes other provisions. Click here to view the entire bill.