Senate GOP Bill (Potential Draft House Bill)
Senate Floor Substitute (defeated yesterday)
Statement of Administrative Policy on VAWA Reauthorization Act
Author: Kate Fort
VAWA Senate Floor Debate
Here. (pdf, 39 pgs). Additional press coverage here.
A few excerpts:
Sen. Akaka:
This bill’s tribal provisions address the epidemic rates of violence against Native women by enabling VAWA pro- grams to more directly and promptly respond to their concerns and needs. These tribal provisions are critical to the lives of Native women and doubly important to me as chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and a Native Hawaiian.
Native women are 21⁄2 times more likely than other U.S. women to be battered or raped. These are extremely disturbing statistics: 34 percent of Native women will be raped in their life- times and 39 percent will suffer domes- tic violence. That is more than one out of every three Native women. We must come together to put a stop to this.
Last summer I chaired an oversight hearing entitled ‘‘Native Women—Protecting, Shielding, and Safeguarding Our Sisters, Mothers, and Daughters.’’ I heard the heartbreaking stories that lie behind the grim and troubling statistics on violence against American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian women.
My committee heard from the chief of the Catawba Nation, who gave a moving account of his experience growing up with domestic violence and the impact it had on the women and children in his community. He also spoke of the importance of reauthorizing VAWA.
We heard from officials who described how existing laws are failing Native women. We heard, for example, that women in tribal communities live in a confusing and dangerous jurisdictional maze, in which the absence of clear lines of authority often leads to offenders, many of whom are non-Native men, escaping investigation and prosecution, to say nothing of punishment. This outrageous and unacceptable situation has led to repeated offenses against Native women that too often spiral into violence with tragic consequences for the women, their children, and their communities.
My committee also heard that Native women are being increasingly targeted by the sex-trafficking industry and that many have, according to police reports in tribal communities across the country, simply vanished into this terrible underworld. The draft bill to address violence against Native women was circulated to a wide range of stakeholders for feedback. This led to strengthened provisions in the draft bill which I introduced as S. 1763, the Stand Against Violence and Empower Native Women Act.
Durante v. Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority
A dram shop action from the Superior Court, Hartford Judicial District. The court found no waiver of sovereign immunity and dismissed the case.
Congratulations to our Fellow
Elaine Barr, who found out she passed the Michigan bar today!!
First Tribal National Park Proposed in the Badlands
From the press release:
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis today announced the release of the final General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement for the South Unit of Badlands National Park, recommending the establishment of the nation’s first tribal national park in partnership with the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
***
The South Unit of Badlands National Park is entirely within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota. The Park Service and the Tribe have worked together to manage the South Unit’s 133,000 acres for almost 40 years. If a tribal national park is enabled by Congress through legislation, the Oglala Sioux people could manage and operate their lands for the educational and recreational benefit of the general public, including a new Lakota Heritage and Education Center.
Prof. Alex Skibine’s New Article in the Michigan Journal of Race and Law
Towards a Balanced Approach for the Protection of Native American Sacred Sites
Here. (pdf)
From the abstract:
Protection of “sacred sites” is very important to Native American religious practitioners because it is intrinsically tied to the survival of their cultures, and there fore to their survival as distinct peoples. The Supreme Court in Oregon v. Smith held that rational basis review, and not strict scrutiny, was the appropriate level of judicial review when evaluating the constitutionality of neutral laws of general applicability even when these laws impacted one’s ability to practice a religion. Reacting to the decision, Congress enacted the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) which reinstated the strict scrutiny test for challenges to neutral laws of general applicability alleged to have substantially burdened free exercise rights. In a controversial 2008 decision, the Ninth Circuit held that a “substantial burden” under RFRA is only imposed when individuals are either coerced to act contrary to their religious beliefs or forced to choose between following the tenets of their religion and receiving a governmental benefit. In all likelihood, such a narrow definition of substantial burden will prevent Native American practitioners from successfully invoking RFRA to protect their sacred sites.
In this article, I first explore whether the Ninth Circuit’s definition of “substantial burden” is mandated under RFRA. To a large degree this question comes down to whether a pre-RFRA Supreme Court decision, Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery, precludes courts from adopting a broader definition of what is a substantial burden under RFRA. Although this Article contends that neither Lyng nor RFRA precludes the adoption of a broader definition of “substantial burden,” the Article nevertheless acknowledges that many judges may disagree. The Article therefore recommends enactment of a legislative solution.
Statement of Senator Udall on VAWA
There is a lot of coverage of VAWA out today as it’s debated on the Senate floor. Here is Senator Udall’s statement. (pdf)
ETA–the Senate passed VAWA 68-31.
Tulalip Tribes of Washington v. Washington Complaint
Here.
The tribe is suing the state to force compliance with the class III gaming compact.
Audio of Salazar v. Ramah Available
Two Upcoming Conferences– “Doing Business in Indian Country” and “Justice for Victims of Crime”
The information and schedule for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation District Court, Doing Business in Indian Country (CLE) is here. (pdf) The event runs May 17th-18th at the River Spirit Event Center. Speakers include Dean Leeds, G. William Rice, and Judith Royster, among others.
The information on 12th National Indian Nations Conference: Justice for Victims of Crime, is here.
The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), Office of Justice Programs, within the U.S. Department of Justice is pleased to announce the 12th National Indian Nations Conference: Justice for Victims of Crime. The Conference will be held December 9 — 11, 2010, in Palm Springs California, with the theme, “Walking in Harmony: Honoring Victim Voices to Achieve Safety, Justice & Healing.” This year’s conference is coordinated again by the Tribal Law and Policy Institute under a grant from OVC.
The purpose of the 12th National Indian Nations Conference — the largest U.S. Department of Justice sponsored Indian Nations conference — is to bring together Native American victims, victim advocates, tribal leaders, victim service providers, community volunteers, prosecutors, judicial and law enforcement personnel, family violence and sexual assault specialists, medical providers, social services and mental health personnel, probation/corrections, criminal justice and juvenile justice personnel, as well as federal and state agency representatives to share their knowledge, experiences and ideas for developing programs that serve the unique needs of crime victims in Indian Country.
Turtle Talk 
You must be logged in to post a comment.