DOJ Needs a Medicine Man

If you’re Native American medicine man, one with experience conducting Native American ceremonies and familiar with medicine wheels, sweat lodges, sacred pipes and eagle feathers, the U.S. Department of Justice may require your services.

According to a piece published by The Smoking Gun on Aug. 19, the DOJ posted an announcement on FedBizOpps.gov web site with that title, though it was later changed to “Native American Services/Spiritual Guide” (after Drudge Report published a link to the announcement).

However the agency words it, the services are needed for Native American inmates at the federal prison in Duluth, Minn.

COPS Grant Funds Demonstration Tribal Community Policing Project

The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) has awarded $500,000 to the Mendocino County (Calif.) Sheriff's Office to fund a community policing demonstration project in collaboration with the Round Valley Indian Tribes, the Round Valley Unified School District and the U.S. Forest Service, according to a press release issued by DOJ on June 1.

The award will fund the hiring of two Mendocino County deputies who will reside on the Round Valley Reservation for 18 months and work with the tribes' leadership and community members on projects that address drugs, crime and school violence.

The award will also fund a technical assistance provider who will offer on-site training, conduct evaluations of the project and document promising practices.

DOJ Allocates 33 New Prosecutors to Indian Country

Indian Country justice just got tougher with the allocation of 33 new Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) positions to 21 judicial districts that contain tribal lands.

The new AUSA allocation is the result of $6 million provided in the U.S. Department of Justice FY 2010 budget for hiring prosecutors in Indian Country.

In a press release issued on May 4, DOJ said that these new prosecutors will enable the agency to work with tribal and state law enforcement to improve public safety in tribal communities.

"Violent crimes, and particularly crimes against women and girls, continue to devastate tribal communities across the country, and the U.S. Attorney community is crucial to the Department of Justice's response," Attorney General Eric Holder said in the release.

DOJ has also launched three Indian Country Community Prosecution Teams. The pilot projects will be initiated with three tribes: the District of New Mexico will launch a pilot with Navajo Nation; the District of South Dakota will launch a pilot with the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation; and the District of Eastern Wisconsin will launch a pilot with the Menominee Indian Tribe.

To learn more about this initiative, go to: http://www.tribaljusticeandsafety.gov.

Justice Department Announces Streamlined Grant Solicitation for Tribal Communities

Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli announced today that the Justice Department’s grant-making components have created a streamlined approach for American Indian and Alaska Native tribal communities to apply for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 funding opportunities. The Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS) will serve as a single solicitation for existing tribal government-specific grant programs administered by the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). This move comes after consultation with tribal leaders, including sessions at the department’s Tribal Nations Listening Session last year.

"This is a direct result of what we heard from tribal leaders at the department's listening session. Tribal leaders have made it clear that a single application would significantly improve their ability to apply and receive critical federal funding, which so many of their communities depend on," said Associate Attorney General Perrelli. "This comprehensive approach is another step in our efforts to work more effectively with tribal communities to improve public safety in those communities."

The Justice Department solicited input from tribal leaders on how to make a change to a single application process that would work most effectively for tribal grant applicants. For the FY2010 grant process, American Indian and Alaska Native tribal communities will submit a single application for all available tribal government-specific grant programs. This coordinated approach will allow the department’s grant-making components to consider the totality of a tribal community’s overall public safety needs. OJP, COPS and OVW will then coordinate in making award decisions to address these needs on a more comprehensive basis. The Department of Justice has begun providing information about the new process to tribal communities this week, with an expected solicitation process launch in mid-March.

Native communities and tribal consortiums may be eligible for other non-tribal government-specific grant-funding opportunities and are encouraged to submit a separate application to any grant programs for which they may be eligible. OVW’s "Grants to Tribal Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalitions" will not be included in the single solicitation and application; OVW will release a separate solicitation and application and eligible applicants must apply separately for this grant program.

Today’s announcement is part of the Justice Department’s ongoing initiative to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities.

DOJ Unveils Plan of Action for Consultation/Coordination with Tribes

The Justice Department has unveiled its plan of action, submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to improve consultation and coordination between the department and tribal nations, as directed by President Barack Obama's Memorandum on Tribal Consultation, which was signed on Nov. 5.

The plan, submitted to OMB on Jan. 27, identifies the steps DOJ will take to develop a comprehensive consultation and coordination policy with tribal nations.

The plan includes: expanding the role of the Office of Tribal Justice; creating a Tribal Nations Leadership Council to ensure ongoing communication and collaboration with tribal governments; convening consultations between tribal leadership and U.S. Attorneys whose jurisdictions include federally-recognized tribes; mandating annual meetings between the department's grants offices and tribal leadership to discuss grant policies, concerns or funding priorities; creating a new federal-tribal taskforce to develop strategies and guidance for federal and tribal prosecutions of crimes of violence against women in tribal communities; and publishing a progress report within 270 days of the Presidential Memorandum evaluating the implementation of these reforms.

To view the plan, go to: http://justice.gov/opa/documents/exec13175-consultation-policy.pdf.

Number of Inmates in Indian Country Jails Declines

The number of inmates confined in Indian Country jails declined by 1.3 percent at midyear 2008, dropping to 2,135, according to a study release on Dec. 1 by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics.

However, the report, titled Jails in Indian Country, 2008, states that the number of inmates admitted into Indian Country jails in June 2008 was about six times the size of the average daily population.

Other key findings in the report include: Inmates held for aggravated and simple assault increased at midyear 2008; domestic violence declined; the number of jails in Indian Country has increased from 68 in 2004 to 82 in 2008; and 36 of the 82 correctional facilities were operating above their rated capacity on their most crowded day in June 2008.

To read the full report, click here.

St. Maries, Idaho, Superfund Site to Be Cleaned Up

In a settlement agreement filed in federal court in Boise, Idaho on Nov. 9, two companies and the city of St. Maries, Idaho, agreed to clean up a superfund site in St. Maries at a cost estimated at more than $12 million, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The site, a former wooden utility pole treatment plant, is located on the banks of the St. Joe River on the Coeur d' Alene Tribe’s reservation. The tribe joined with the federal government in signing the settlement.

B.J. Carney & Co. owned the now-defunct plant from 1960 through the early 1980s, demolishing site structures and re-grading contaminated soil from 1960 through 1965. Although the creosote operation ended and B.J. Carney & Co. sold its interests to Carney Products, Ltd., from 1982 until 2003 Carney Products peeled, sorted and stored poles at the facility.

The creosote operation and demolition process polluted the land, river bank and river sediments, the release stated. EPA's cleanup plan calls for excavation and thermal treatment of more than 70,000 cubic yards of creosote-contaminated soil and river sediment.

News from the Department of Justice

Robert Darryl War Club Found Guilty in U.S. Federal Court (U.S. Attorney For the District of Montana)
Bill Mercer, U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, announced that on Oct. 1, 2009, in Great Falls, after a four day federal district court trial before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, Robert Darryl War Club, a 49-year-old resident of Wolf Point, was found guilty of first degree murder. Sentencing is set for Jan. 7, 2010. He is currently detained. War Club faces possible penalties of life imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and 5 years supervised release.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mt/pressreleases/20091001154515.html

Former Casino Employee Sentenced to 37 Months in Prison (U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona)
Adam Thomas Vega, 31, of Tucson, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Cindy K. Jorgenson on Oct. 1, 2009, to 37 months in prison. Vega was also ordered to pay $644,422 in restitution. Vega, a former casino worker, pleaded guilty on April 10, 2009, to one count each of theft by an officer or employee of a gaming establishment on Indian Lands and attempted evasion of assessment and payment of his 2006 federal individual income taxes. Vega admitted that between October 2005 and July 2007, while employed as a slot floor person at the Desert Diamond Casino in Tucson, he created 585 fraudulent jackpot override tickets. All of the false jackpot tickets were for amounts under $1,200 to avoid generating a W-2G federal tax withholding form. Vega submitted a total of $644,422 in jackpot tickets to the casino cage cashiers which were all cashed over the three year period.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/az/press_releases/2009/2009-313(Vega).pdf

Summer Lee Many White Horses Pleads Guilty in U.S. Federal Court (U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana)
Bill Mercer, U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, announced that during a federal court session in Great Falls on Oct. 1, 2009, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Strong, Summer Lee Many White Horses, a 32-year-old resident of Browning and Great Falls, pled guilty to Social Security fraud. Sentencing is set for Dec. 28, 2009. She is currently detained. Many White Horses applied for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits on behalf of her son on September 18, 2007. Her son was eligible for federal assistance based upon his speech and language delays. This claim was approved and Many White Horses was selected to serve as her son’s representative payee, meaning she would receive and manage her son’s money for him. During an interview with law enforcement officials, Many White Horses told detectives her son had died on May 29, 2008. Following this interview, detectives retrieved her son’s badly decomposed body from the trunk of Many White Horses’ car. Many White Horses was recently convicted of negligent homicide for the death of her son in state court. She faces possible penalties of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years supervised release.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mt/pressreleases/last20.html

Holder to Convene Listening Conference with Tribal Leaders

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will convene a Tribal Nations Listening Conference later this year to confer with tribal leaders on how to address the chronic public safety problems in Indian Country.

The Listening Conference was announced today by Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli at the National Congress of American Indians mid-year session in Niagara Falls, New York.

Prior to the Listening Conference, Perrelli and Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden will convene a series of regional summits to seek tribal representatives’ input in setting the agenda. Those planning sessions will include Department component leaders, tribal leaders and experts in relevant areas to begin a dialogue on a range of important issues including the following: 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. No locations or dates have been announced.

Feds Bust Network Trafficking in Stolen Native Artifacts

Twelve indictments charging 24 defendants with violations of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) were unsealed this morning in Salt Lake City.  The case involves 256 artifacts totaling $335,685.

The indictments were announced this morning in Salt Lake City and are the culmination of a two-year undercover operation targeting a network of individuals allegedly involved in the sale, purchase and exchange of artifacts illegally taken from public or Indian lands in the Four Corners region of the country.  The investigation represents the nation’s largest investigation of archaeological and cultural artifact thefts.

 “These archaeological treasures are precious and protecting them preserves a rich history and heritage. That is why the Justice Department will use all of its tools to vigorously enforce the laws designed to safeguard the cultural heritage of Native Americans,” said Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden.  “Recommitting resources and focus to criminal justice in Indian Country is of paramount importance to the Justice Department.  We are currently conducting a training initiative with the Interior Department for federal prosecutors and law enforcement personnel on looting, vandalism, and illegal trafficking of cultural heritage, and are planning to reach out to with Indian Country leaders in the near future to engage in an ongoing consultation on these issues.”

$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.