Author: Kate E. Fort – Page 116

The Other Movement: Indian Rights and Civil Rights in the Deep South [by Denise E. Bates] examines the most visible outcome of the Southern Indian Rights Movement: state Indian affairs commissions. In recalling political activism in the post-World War II South, rarely does one consider the political activities of American Indians as they responded to desegregation, the passing of the Civil Rights Acts, and the restructuring of the American political party system. Native leaders and activists across the South created a social and political movement all their own, which drew public attention to the problems of discrimination, poverty, unemployment, low educational attainment, and poor living conditions in tribal communities.

While tribal-state relationships have historically been characterized as tense, most southern tribes—particularly non-federally recognized ones—found that Indian affairs commissions offered them a unique position in which to negotiate power. Although individual tribal leaders experienced isolated victories and generated some support through the 1950s and 1960s, the creation of the intertribal state commissions in the 1970s and 1980s elevated the movement to a more prominent political level. Through the formalization of tribal-state relationships, Indian communities forged strong networks with local, state, and national agencies while advocating for cultural preservation and revitalization, economic development, and the implementation of community services.

Informational Meeting on Casino Ballot Initiative to be Held at Firekeepers Casino

June 6, 2012Kate Fort

From MLive:

BATTLE CREEK, MI – The owners of FireKeepers Casino plan to hold an informational meeting for area community leaders about a statewide ballot proposal that would amend the state constitution to allow eight new privately owned casinos to be built in Michigan.

In a press release, the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Pottawatomi [sic] said the meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday in the Bingo Room of FireKeepers Casino.

DOJ Press Release on Cross-Designating Tribal Prosecutors

June 6, 2012Kate Fort

Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Office on Violence Against Women Announces Agreements to Cross-Designate Tribal Prosecutors in Nebraska, New Mexico, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) announced today that four tribes in Nebraska, New Mexico, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota will be awarded cooperative agreements to cross-designate tribal prosecutors to pursue violence against women cases in both tribal and federal courts.

The goal of the Tribal Special U.S. Attorney (SAUSA) program is to train eligible tribal prosecutors in federal law, procedure and investigative techniques to increase the likelihood that every viable criminal offense is prosecuted in tribal court, federal court or both. The program enables tribal prosecutors to bring violence against women cases in federal court and to serve as co-counsel with federal prosecutors on felony investigations and prosecutions of offenses arising out of their respective tribal communities.

“We know that violence against Native women has reached epidemic proportions,” said OVW Director Bea Hanson. “Restoring safety for Native women requires the type of sustained cooperation between the federal and tribal justice systems that we see in the jurisdictions participating in our Tribal SAUSA project.”

Through this special initiative, OVW will support salary, travel and training costs of four tribal SAUSAs, who will work in collaboration with the U.S. Attorneys Offices in the Districts of Nebraska, New Mexico, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. Specifically, OVW will award cooperative agreements to four federally recognized tribes to select qualified applicants in cooperation with the U.S. Attorney Offices to serve as cross-designated prosecutors. These prosecutors will maintain an active violence against women crimes caseload, in tribal and/or federal court, while also helping to promote higher quality investigations, improved training and better inter-governmental communication.

Tailored to meet the particular needs of the participating jurisdiction, these pilot programs are designed to improve the quality of cases, the coordination of resources and the communication of priorities both within and between the various law enforcement agencies working in this area.

The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project was largely driven by input gathered from the Justice Department’s 2009 Tribal Nation Listening Session on Public Safety and Law Enforcement, and its annual tribal consultation on violence against women. The Tribal SAUSA initiative is another step in the Justice Department’s on-going efforts to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities, and represents a partnership between OVW, the Executive Office of US Attorney’s and the US Attorney’s Offices in Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota.

The recipients of these awards are:

Pueblo of Laguna in New Mexico
Fort Belknap Tribe in Montana
Winnebago Tribe in Nebraska
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, in North Dakota and South Dakota

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Office on Violence Against Women

State Offers Settlement to Onondaga Nation Protestors Injured by Police . . . 15 Years Ago

June 6, 2012June 6, 2012Kate Fort

Here.

New York state has agreed to pay $3 million to 98 people, mostly Native Americans, who were beaten, arrested or chased away by state troopers from a protest on Onondaga Nation territory 15 years ago.

Lawyers for the state and the people who sued over the May 18, 1997, conflict agreed to settle the case for $2.995 million, according to Terrance Hoffmann, a lawyer for half of the plaintiffs.

The settlement won’t be final until all the plaintiffs sign it, Hoffmann said. More than half have signed since the lawyers met with some of the plaintiffs May 17 at Bellevue Country Club in Syracuse, he said. Lawyers are tracking down the rest, he said. Five of the plaintiffs have died, and their survivors have agreed to the settlement, Hoffmann said.

Supreme Court Justices Really Are That Similar

June 5, 2012June 5, 2012Kate Fort

From SCOTUSblog:

The current members of the Supreme Court have remarkably similar backgrounds — they all attended either Harvard or Yale Law Schools, and have spent most of their careers in the cloistered setting of academia or appellate litigation. Although many have noted, and criticized, this lack of diversity, until now no one had compared the background of the current Justices with their predecessors. A new article by Professor Benjamin Barton does just that, confirming the perception that recent appointees lack the range of life experiences that characterized previous Courts. After canvassing an impressive amount of biographical data from the very first Chief Justice, John Jay, up to the most recent appointee, Justice Elena Kagan, Barton concludes that “the Roberts Court Justices have spent more pre-appointment time in legal academia, appellate judging, and living in Washington, D.C. than any previous Supreme Court. They also spent the most time in elite undergraduate and law school settings. Time spent in these pursuits has naturally meant less time elsewhere: The Roberts Court Justices spent less time in the private practice of law, in trial judging, and as elected politicians than any previous Court.”

The article is here.

Information on the Tribal Court Trial Advocacy Program

June 1, 2012Kate Fort

From the federal press release:

The result of a collaborative effort by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services (OJS) and DOJ’s Access to Justice Initiative (AJI), the Tribal Court Trial Advocacy Program is the first national effort by DOI and DOJ to offer trial advocacy training with courses designed specifically for tribal courts and free training to the judges, public defenders and prosecutors who work in them. Training is provided in three topic areas – domestic abuse, illegal narcotics and sexual assault on children and adults – with faculty and instructional materials prepared by experts knowledgeable about tribal court issues. The program is unique because it also has training specifically for public defenders.

A pilot training session on domestic violence held by the OJS and the ATJ in August 2011 in Rapid City, S.D., proved so successful that the OJS and its federal partners provided funding for seven additional sessions. The first of those, which focused on illegal narcotics, was held March 13-15, 2012, in Phoenix, Ariz. Each of the six remaining sessions, to be held through the rest of 2012 and into 2013, will focus on one training topic. The schedule for the coming sessions is:
July 24-26, 2012, Duluth, Minn.
August 14-16, 2012, Durango, Colo.
September 11-13, 2012, Great Falls, Mont.
October 2-4, 2012, Seattle, Wash.
October 23-25, 2012, Chinle, Ariz.
January 15-17, 2013, Albuquerque, N.M.

For more information about the DOI-DOJ Tribal Court Trial Advocacy Program, which training topic will be offered at which site, and how to register for upcoming sessions, contact the BIA’s Indian Police Academy at 575-748-8151.