Author: Victoria Sweet

NAICJA Joins Forces with NCJFCJ

Victoria Sweet

Link to Announcement: here

Boulder, CO: The National American Indian Court Judges Association (NAICJA) is pleased to announce that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been memorialized establishing a working relationship between NAICJA and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ). Importantly, the MOU provides for joint membership in the two organizations, allowing NAICJA members access to the resources of both national judicial membership organizations.

 Established in 1969, NAICJA is a non-profit corporation and the only membership association of tribal court judges and tribal court personnel in the nation. NAICJA’s current projects and goals are concerned with: advocating on behalf of tribal justice systems; securing necessary funding for tribal justice systems so they may continue to excel; providing education and training to tribal judiciaries; providing networking and mentorship opportunities for tribal judiciaries; and improving cooperation between tribal, state, and federal judiciaries.

 The NCJFCJ, established in 1937, is a non-profit corporation with a primary focus on improving juvenile and family court system practice in the handling of cases involving children, families, and victims of domestic violence. As one of the oldest judicial membership organizations in the nation, the NCJFCJ is unique as a leader in providing continuing education, technical assistance, research, and policy development in the field of juvenile and family justice. Among the myriad current NCJFCJ initiatives, several align closely with NAICJA’s projects and goals and hold promise for potential application and implementation in Indian Country, including: a national network of more than 100 juvenile and family courts that develop and test promising practice; the Juvenile Drug Court Training and Technical Assistance Project; the Resource Center on Domestic Violence: Child Protection and Custody; and the Family Court Enhancement Project.

 Beginning on June 1, 2016, new or renewing members of the NAICJA interested in joint membership will pay a $215 fee directly to NAICJA (existing NAICJA members should contact NAICJA directly for details on upgrading to a joint membership).

 NAICJA is excited to join forces with the NCJFCJ as the two organizations work to strengthen the functions and collaborative opportunities of state and tribal court systems, especially as they pertain to juvenile and family courts. NAICJA encourages its members to take advantage of the joint membership opportunity and the incredible resources available from the NCJFCJ.

 

Contact Information: 

Justice Richard Blake

President, Board of Directors

National American Indian Court Judges Association

Email: president@naicja.org

BPhone: (303) 449-4112

Article Published by ABA, Enforcing Tribal Environmental Laws without “Treatment as a State”

Victoria Sweet

Jill Grant has published an article on the Navajo Nation’s innovative petroleum storage tank inspection and enforcement program. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act lacks a “treatment as a state” provision for Tribes, but the Navajo Nation has found other ways to develop a noteworthy program that enhances environmental protection, Tribal sovereignty, and self-determination.

Link to article here.

Job Announcement, General Counsel in Juneau, Alaska

Victoria Sweet

This position will provide legal counsel to Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (CCTHITA) in the areas of tribal government, federal-tribal relations, jurisdiction issues, environmental and natural resources law and policy, economic development, tribal business enterprise, and employment issues.

General Counsel (Office of the President) – Juneau;  $67,455 – $94,621

Please visit www.ccthita.org<http://www.ccthita.org> for more information. A complete application packet MUST include: cover letter, employment application and resume. Submit to CCTHITA ~ HR Department, 320 W. Willoughby Ave., Juneau, AK  99801.  Tele:  907/463-7106 or Fax: 888.510.3816.  Closing Date:  Close of Business – 4:30 pm, May 31, 2016

More information available General Counsel.pd Juneau

Northeast Regional Peacemaking Training

Victoria Sweet
The National American Indian Court Judges Association, the Native American Rights Fund, and Columbia Law School offer this training that reviews foundational principles of peacemaking, peace circles, and traditional dispute resolution. While justice practitioners have been focusing on how indigenous peacemaking can help state and federal courts, this training brings the focus back to indigenous and tribal principles of peacemaking and how tribes are using and can use these methods in their own communities. One full day will be devoted to experiential training with peacemakers and notable faculty from across Indian Country.
Registration and more information available here
Peacemaking-Flyer

Indigenous Women’s Movements to End Violence Against American Indian, Alaska Native, and Aboriginal Women

Victoria Sweet

The Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center, Indian Law Resource Center, National Congress of American Indians, National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, and Native Women’s Association of Canada are co-sponsoring an event to  be held during the NGO-Forum of the Commission on the Status of Women’s 60th Session.

The event  will take place on Tuesday, March 22nd at 4:30 p.m., at the United Nations Church Center Chapel.

More information can be found here.

CSW-parallelevent

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month

Victoria Sweet1 Comment

One in three adolescents in the U.S. is a victim of physical, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner. One in five tweens knows a victim of dating violence. (For citations to these and more statistics see Break the Cycle’s Dating Violence research available here.)

The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center has a project called Native Love, designed to educate Native teens on this very real problem.

Native Love is defined by our traditional ways of caring for each other and values as Native peoples of respect, honor, kindness, family and compassion. Our NativeLove project encourages youth to rethink what Native Love means to them, and empower them to define healthy relationships for themselves This is with the aim of promoting non-violent, respectful, safe relationships among Native youth, their families, communities, cultures, & Nations

A link to the project can be found here

In addition, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges has been publishing guest blogs by judges discussing a judicial perspective on the epidemic of violence among teens and the need for awareness of this problem from the bench. Judge Anne McKeig, White Earth member and state court judge, wrote about her observations of the impact of family violence on Native children and how some of these kids have eventually ended up in her court as victims of dating violence – unable to break out of the cycle of violence.

The need to address dating violence among Native teens is critical. Forty percent of suicides by Native Americans are committed by those between the ages of 15 and 24.[10] While the cause of suicide is complex, untreated trauma is a known factor. Addressing the problem is also not easy. The occurrence of violence among Native teens is complicated by many factors – lack of culturally appropriate resources, historical trauma, high rates of alcohol and drug abuse, poverty, and the normalization of violence within the culture, to name a few. The “system” is viewed by the Native community as untrustworthy and in many cases, has contributed to the historical trauma endured by Native American families. Courts must commit to building trust with the Native community; building relationships to engage in meaningful dialogue; and creating a welcoming and accessible presence for Native victims to obtain help. Without that commitment there will be no change.

Blog post available here

Job Opening, Associate Counsel, Eastern Band Cherokee

Victoria Sweet

Eastern Band Cherokee is searching for an Associate Attorney to work in the Attorney General’s Office, Civil Law Department. Requires at least 2 years experience with tribal law.

The job closes on February 12th at 4pm.
Applications can be mailed to: E.B.C.I Employment Department PO Box 553 Cherokee, NC 28719.

Applicants can also call 828-359-6388 and see if it’s possible to email/scan.

Full job description available here  Associate Counsel IV EBC

 

Applications forms available here 2013-revised-application EBC

Tulalip Tribes and State Sign MOA for Child Welfare Cases

Victoria Sweet

MOAs and MOUs are tools many Tribes are using to proactively work with a State to help tribal families remain intact or at least keep tribal children and youth closely connected with their Tribes.

Tulalip and the state of Washington have signed a formal MOA in child welfare cases. Here is a pdf copy of the MOA

Word copies  (instead of pdf) of the agreement are available by writing to tribal attorney Michelle Demmert.  (See Tulalip Tribes legal department website for contact information)

Here is a copy of a news article highlighting the impact of this new MOA here

From the article:

The signed agreement formalizes the government-to-government relationship between the Tribe and the State with child welfare cases. It’s based on the fundamental principles of the government-to-government relationship acknowledged in the 1989 Centennial Accord and recognizes the sovereignty of the Tribes and the State of Washington and each respective sovereign’s interests. What does this mean? It means the State of Washington now officially recognizes Tulalip has jurisdiction over Tulalip children wherever found and that Tulalip desires to assert its jurisdiction and authority to protect Tulalip children and keep families together whenever possible. . . .

Pursuant to the Indian Child Welfare Act and our sovereignty, the Tulalip Tribes have jurisdiction to handle all child abuse and neglect cases for our children. Some may be wondering, haven’t we always had that jurisdiction? The simple answer is no. In certain situations state agencies were able to, and would, circumvent the tribe altogether in cases involving allegations of child neglect or abuse. Now, with this agreement in place, the tribe can no longer be circumvented. Going forward, any time a state agency comes to investigate an allegation of child neglect or abuse, a beda?chelh case manager will be on the scene.

***

This agreement ensures Tulalip staff and representatives are always actively involved in any and all cases involving our children, and that we are taking the lead when the opportunity is there. The bottom line is we want our primary goal to be child safety, and to make sure any services or treatment families are receiving is defined by the tribe. That’s why this agreement also lends itself to the creation of a Tulalip Family Intervention Team (FIT), which will contact families of low-risk assessment and provide skill based services to parent their children, so that no court intervention is necessary.

FIT aims to keep families together and act as a proactive solution offering culture based services to families, while getting parents actively involved. It’s a way to handle things more traditionally between the Tribe and the families.

It may be an agreement of this nature is long overdue, but it took many days and long hours from individuals across several different tribal and state agencies to carefully craft and fine tune in order to get it right, not just for Tulalip children and families, but for all Native children and families. With Tulalip leading the way, there are sure to be multiple tribes who model their own government-to-government child welfare agreements after this one.

Eastern Band Cherokee Seeking Tribal Prosecutor

Victoria Sweet

Job responsibilities to include prosecuting criminal and juvenile charges in Cherokee Court and prosecuting criminal cases in Federal Court as a Special Assistant United States Attorney (SAUSA).

The job closes on February 12th at 4pm.
Applications can be mailed to: E.B.C.I Employment Department PO Box 553 Cherokee, NC 28719.

Applicants can also call 828-359-6388 and see if it’s possible to email/scan.

Full job description Tribal Prosecutor II

Application checklist 2013-Revised-Application

Free Prosecutor Training: National Institute on the Prosecution of Sexual Violence in Indian Country

Victoria Sweet
The National Indian Country Training Initiative, in partnership with AEquitas:  The Prosecutor’s Resource on Violence Against Women, an Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) funded Technical Assistance provider, announces the National Institute on the Prosecution of Sexual Violence in Indian Country (NIPSVIC).  The training will be held April 12-15, 2016, at the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina.  Travel and lodging accommodations will be paid for by the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Education. There is no tuition charge for this training

The National Institute on the Prosecution of Sexual Violence in Indian Country (NIPSVIC) is a 3 ½ day course designed to challenge participants to reevaluate their approach to prosecuting sexual violence crimes.  The NIPSVIC will explore the complex issues faced by prosecutors in balancing offender accountability and the impact of criminal prosecution on victims.  In addition to practical case evaluation and litigation skills, the curriculum will examine the benefits of developing a coordinated, victim-centered community response; explain common injuries and relevant medical evidence, and offer guidance on the use of medical experts; explore ethical issues confronted by prosecutors; address the development and improvement of culturally-sensitive victim services; and offer prosecutors the ability to redefine outcomes and the very nature of justice in sexual violence cases.The NIPSVIC will offer hypothetical case problems, role-playing exercises, small group discussions, mini-lectures, and faculty demonstrations.  Rather than merely attending a series of legal lectures, participants will examine their current attitudes and practices by employing active case evaluation, preparation, and trial skills to respond to sexual violence in the varied contexts in which it occurs.  The highly interactive format enables prosecutors from different jurisdictions, with varied levels of experience, to learn from one another and engage in “real-life” scenarios that are readily transferable to their everyday work.

 
Nominations are due by Friday, February 5, 2016.
More information and nomination form available here Non-DOJ Announcement.48894 (3)