Jim Diamond on Practicing Indian Law in Federal, State, and Tribal Criminal Courts

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

James D. Diamond just published “Practicing Indian Law in Federal, State, and Tribal Criminal Courts and an Update on Recent Expansion of Criminal Jurisdiction Over Non-Indians” in the ABA’s Criminal Justice Magazine. PDF SSRN

2 thoughts on “Jim Diamond on Practicing Indian Law in Federal, State, and Tribal Criminal Courts”

  1. Leslie A. Hagen January 24, 2018 / 1:14 pm

    Couple of corrections to the article by Mr. Diamond. First, the article states that “under the amended statute, tribes can prosecute any type of violence…” Actually, 25 U.S.C. 1304(C) limits the crimes to domestic violence, dating violence and violations of protections orders. Also, the article states “it is extremely likely that many more tribes will soon be approved by Congress to adopt the enhanced VAWA domestic violence jurisdiction.” Congress does not approve tribe’s implementation of special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction (SDVCJ). The only tribes who had to seek approval prior to exercising SDVCJ were those who wanted to prosecute non-Indians during the two-year pilot project. After March 13, 2015, tribes do not need to see approval from DOJ, DOI or Congress to implement SDVCJ. They only have to have the due process protections required by the amended Indian Civil Rights Act in place.

  2. Jim Diamond January 28, 2018 / 3:47 pm

    Thanks Leslie! You’re totally right–an oversight. The paper has been corrected. And a few more tribes have come on board, too, with enhanced VAWA jurisdiction in the last few months. .

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