DOJ Publication Offers Strategies for Offender Reentry in Indian Country

The Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs (OJP) last week announced the availability of a new publication that offers promising practices and strategies for adults and juveniles who are transitioning from prison back into tribal communities.

The 55-page publication, titled Strategies for Creating Offender Reentry Programs in Indian Country, provides a historical overview, including a look at the challenges that tribes, states and the federal government face, like the growing population of incarcerated Native Americans; sub-standard conditions and a lack of programming and transitional services at Indian Country jails; a lack of formal relations between tribal and state criminal justice authorities; a lack of culturally relevant care or services and tribal involvement in planning the reentry of Native American offenders at federal prisons; and issues specific to incarcerated juveniles.

Strategies for Creating Offender Reentry Programs in Indian Country explores best practices for tribes and correctional facilities and practical steps for designing and developing reentry programs in tribal communities, such as community policing, which includes listening to community members about their needs and concerns on returning ex-offenders, and developing stand-alone reentry courts to monitor offenders’ progress.

The publication also lays out seven policy recommendations. Among them: conducting needs assessments to identify reentry programs and initiatives; researching incarceration facilities to gather information on the conditions of confinement and reintegration practices in each facility; developing model reintegration policies; developing culturally competent programming and training curricula; and conducting tribal planning sessions involving tribal, state and federal practitioners to design and implement reentry plans.

At the end of the publication, there are several case descriptions, highlights of successful reentry programs in Indian Country, including the Leech Lake-Cass Wellness Court: Joint Tribal-State Jurisdiction Initiative and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reintegration Program. There is also a section that provides information on federal funding that is available for Indian Country reentry programs and for training and technical assistance.

Strategies for Creating Offender Reentry Programs in Indian Country is available online at: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ccdo/programs/reentry-indiancounty/.

Mississippi Band of Choctaw to Start Healing to Wellness Court for Youth

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians will next month start a Healing to Wellness Court for youth.

The Youth HTWC is being adapted from the tribe’s successful Adult HTWC, established five years ago with a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Wilma J. Simpson, who is with the tribe’s Office of Public Information, said 13 have graduated from the Adult HTWC and 16 are currently in the program.

A Tribal Juvenile Accountability grant, awarded in 2009 by the USDOJ’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, is funding the Choctaw’s Youth HTWC for three years, with the first year a planning year. The tribe is hoping to start it on Oct. 1, 2010, Simpson said.

Also called “drug courts” or just “wellness courts,” healing to wellness courts are now part of many tribal judicial systems. While most that have been started are dedicated to adults, there are a few out there for youth. The Cherokee Nation, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians are just a few examples of tribes that have one for juveniles.

The overall goal of these courts is to rehabilitate the offender, rather than send him/her to prison. They generally include a referral to treatment services, monitoring alcohol and/or drug usage, random drug testing and supervising the progress of the participant’s treatment through frequent appearances in the wellness court. As a rehabbed offender is unlikely to offend again, these courts help reduce crime.

The Choctaw already has an advisory board for its Youth HTWC in place. It is comprised of representatives from the tribe’s Court Services, the Attorney General’s Office, Legal Defense, Police Department and Behavioral Health department. Board members will meet weekly with the judge to review the progress of each participant.

Simpson said it also has an eight-bedroom, dorm-style building, where participants will reside during their transition period.

For participants, progress (or compliance) will be monitored through periodic and random drug tests. Successful completion of the program will result in the dismissal of the charges against them.

Obama Signs Tribal Law and Order Act

On July 29, President Obama signed into law the Tribal Law and Order Act, legislation that takes a comprehensive approach to addressing the shortfalls in fighting crime in Indian Country.

The House passed the legislation last week (see AIR post published last week); and the Senate approved it on June 24, 2010.

Jefferson Keel, president of the National Congress of American Indians, was among the many — tribal leaders, federal lawmakers, advocates, tribal law enforcement personnel and others — that attended the signing ceremony.

Keel said in NCAI press release issued yesterday: “Today, by enacting the Tribal Law and Order Act, President Obama and the United States government reaffirmed its federal trust responsibility to work with tribal nations to strengthen our governments, our people and our communities. We will use the tools in the Tribal Law and Order Act to crack down on crime and make our communities safer.”

As highlighted in the NCAI press release, the law’s major provisions include:

o Evidence Sharing and Declination Data: Requires federal prosecutors to maintain data on criminal declinations in Indian country, and to share evidence to support prosecutions in tribal court.

o Tribal Court Sentencing: Increases tribal court sentencing authority from 1 to 3 years imprisonment where certain constitutional protections are met.

o Federal Testimony: Requires Federal officials who work in Indian country to testify about information gained in the scope of their duties to support a prosecution in tribal court.

o Tribal Police Access to Criminal History Records: Many tribal police have no access to criminal history records. The bill will provide tribal police greater access to criminal history databases that provide them with essential information when detaining or arresting a suspect.

o Improves transparency in Public Safety spending by the BIA, and requires greater consultation on the part of the BIA to tribal communities on matters affecting public safety and justice.

o Increased sexual assault training and standardized protocols for handling sex crimes, interviewing witnesses, and handling evidence of domestic and sexual violence crimes in Indian country.

o Increases recruitment and retention efforts for BIA and Tribal Police.

o Expands training opportunities for BIA and tribal police to receive training at State police academies, and tribal, state, and local colleges – where Federal law enforcement training standards are met.

o Increases Deputizations of Tribal and State Police to Enforce Federal Law: Enhances Special Law Enforcement Commission program to deputize officers to enforce federal laws on Indian lands.

o Authorizes deputization of Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys to prosecute reservation crimes in Federal courts, and encourages Federal Courts to hold cases in Indian country.

o Authorizes the Drug Enforcement Agency to deputize tribal police to assist on reservation drug raids.

o Programmatic Reauthorizations: The bill will reauthorize and improve existing programs designed to strengthen tribal courts, police departments, and corrections centers – as well as programs to prevent and treat alcohol and substance abuse, and improve opportunities for at-risk Indian youth.

Native American Inmates’ ‘Strip Search’ Complaint Rejected

In a three to two ruling, the Montana Human Rights Commission rejected a discrimination complaint filed by about 30 Native American inmates at the Crossroads Correctional Center in Shelby who were subjected to strip searches before and after participating in sweat lodge ceremonies in 2008, as reported in an AP article published on Feb. 19 by KFBB.com.

Prison officials believed the ceremonies were used to move contraband, though none was ever found in these searches; therefore, they maintain, there was no discrimination.

The case may go to state or federal court, the inmates’ attorney told the AP.

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.

Community Protests Prison on Tohono O'odham Lands

Town leaders and residents of Rancho Sahuarita, Ariz., are writing letters to Congress and signing petitions in opposition of a proposed prison on Tohono O'odham lands, according to a story published today in the Arizona Republic. Plans for a boycott and protest this weekend at the tribe’s casino are also underway.

The prison, called the San Xavier Regional Detention Center, would be developed and operated by private companies. It would be built on 48-acre parcel located between the Santa Cruz River and Old Nogales Highway, at the eastern edge of the Tohono O'odham’s 2.7 million-acre reservation. The $50 million facility would house 750 federal, state and local inmates.

As reported by the Republic, Texas-based Innovative Government Strategies is leading the project, and Municipal Capital Markets Group, Inc., is financing it. Community Education Centers, a New Jersey company, would operate the prison under a 30-year lease.

While tribal leaders see the prison as a source of jobs and revenue, people living in Rancho Sahuarita, the nearest community to the site, do not want criminals in their backyard and want the site changed.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs must decide on any tribal lease deal, the Republic reported, and plans must comply with the National Environmental Policy Act. The BIA has extended a public comment period on the environmental assessment until June 1.

$248 million Available for Indian Country Criminal Justice

Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli announced today that more than $248 million is available for Tribes to assist with addressing the Indian Country’s criminal justice needs. These funds are part of $4 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) funds managed by the Justice Department to assist tribal, state, and local law enforcement and for other criminal justice activities that help to prevent crime and improve the criminal and juvenile justice systems in the United States, while supporting the creation of jobs and providing much needed resources for states and local communities.

Of the $248 million in Recovery Act funding available for Tribes, $225 million is available for Correctional Facilities on Tribal Lands grants, $20.8 million for Indian Tribal Government grants, and $2.8 million for Tribal Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalitions grants.

In addition to these funds, Tribes are also eligible to apply for several Department of Justice Recovery Act competitive grant programs that are available to states, local governments and other entities depending upon the eligibility requirements in the solicitations. Application, registration and deadline information are available on the Department’s website at http://www.usdoj.gov/recovery.