Access to Justice

Kirsten Carlson on Access to Justice in the Shadow of Colonialism

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Kirsten Matoy Carlson has posted “Access to Justice in the Shadow of Colonialism,” published in the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, on SSRN.

Here is the abstract:

The legal needs of most Americans go unmet, but American Indians and Alaska Natives face particular challenges in seeking access to justice. This article describes the complexity of access to justice issues in Native communities. Access to justice in Indian Country exists in the shadow of colonialism. The legacy of settler colonialism, including the imposition of unfamiliar laws and legal processes, has and continues to affect what justice means and how it is experienced by tribal governments, Native communities, and individual Natives. Understanding this unique backdrop encourages access to justice scholars to reconsider the centrality of power dynamics to access to justice.

New Legal Aid Clinic for Native Americans in Buffalo, New York

Neoshia Roemer

Attorney Lee Redeye, a member of the Seneca Nation of Indians, recently started a legal aid clinic aimed increasing access to legal systems for Native American people living in Western New York. For more information, please read the article here.

Information on the Tribal Court Trial Advocacy Program

Kate 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.