Justice Department Listening Conference -- Will it Help Indian Country

Below is a release from the Department of Justice regarding a tribal nations listening conference. We'd like to hear from anyone who was part of the last Justice Deparment listening conference -- the one described in the last paragraph of the release.

Do you think it had any impact on fighting crime in Indian Country? Did you feel as if your concerns were addressed by the Administration and/or Congress?

Dates for Justice Department Listening Conference Set

The Justice Department today announced the dates of the 2009 Tribal Nations Listening Conference to be led by Attorney General Eric Holder. Prior to the Listening Conference, the Department will also convene two working sessions with tribal leaders and experts in law enforcement to be led by Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden and Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli:

• Working Session #1: Aug. 25-26 in Seattle, Wash.
• Working Session #2: Sept. 21-22 in Albuquerque, N.M.
• Listening Conference: Oct 28-29 Minneapolis, M.N.
  

The Listening Conference is part of an ongoing Justice Department initiative to increase engagement, coordination and action on tribal justice in Indian Country. It will allow top Department officials to confer with tribal leaders on how to address the chronic problems of public safety in Indian Country and other important issues affecting tribal communities. The working sessions will include Department component leaders and tribal experts in relevant areas to begin a dialogue on a range of important issues including, law enforcement policy and personnel; communications and consultation; grants and technical assistance; detention facilities; federal prosecution in Indian country; tribal court development; domestic violence; drug courts and substance abuse; federal litigation involving tribes; and civil rights.

In 1994, Attorney General Janet Reno convened the only other National Listening Conference, sponsored jointly with the Department of the Interior, which led to numerous initiatives, including major funding for tribal police, jails and courts.

Keweenaw Bay Tribal Member Sentenced for Theft of Tribal Property

The Department of Justice reports that Robert Charles Genschow, Sr., 60, of L’Anse, Mich., was sentenced on July 7 to 10 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for destroying trees on the Keweenaw Bay Indian reservation. Genschow was also ordered to perform 250 hours of community service and to pay $47,200 in restitution owed to the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.

Genschow claimed to be Chief Lonewolf of the Ontonagon Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and asserted that, as Chief, he had the right to remove timber from the land in question. During the trial of this case, former Keweenaw Bay Tribal President Susan LaFernier testified that the Ontonagon Band of Lake Superior Chippewa ceased to exist in 1936, when the Band voted to join with the L’Anse Band to create the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.