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Link to press release here.
Brief of Amici Curiae in Support of Respondents here.
The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center submitted an amicus in support of the DOJ’s case against two Maine men who violated federal law for possessing firearms when convicted of domestic violence. The men argue that their reckless misdemeanors shouldn’t bar them from owning guns.
“Petitioners attempt to conflate ‘reckless’ domestic violence crimes with ‘accidents,’” NIWRC’s attorney, Mary Kathryn Nagle, a partner at Pipestem Law, PC, states. “Domestic violence crimes prosecuted under tribal law, however, are not accidents. Tribal Courts that prosecute for ‘reckless’ domestic violence crimes establish a standard that requires demonstrating the defendant acted with a ‘conscious disregard’ for the safety and welfare of the defendant’s intimate partner. There is no doubt Congress intended for the Lautenberg Amendment to cover these crimes.”
Six Tribes signed onto the brief: Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Eastern Band of Cherokee, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa, Nottaweseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, Seminole Nation, and Tulalip Tribes. They are urging the Supreme Court to uphold the convictions for VAWA and Native women, who are more at risk to gun and domestic violence by repeat offenders.
Here are the materials so far in United States v. Flett (E.D. Wash.):
An excerpt:
On June 5, 2012, Tommie Joe Flett allegedly assaulted his estranged girlfriend at a residence that is located within the boundaries of the Colville Indian Reservation. The Colville Confederated Tribes charged Mr. Flett in tribal court with violations of tribal law. On August 24, 2012, Mr. Flett pleaded guilty in tribal court to the crime of “Battery (Domestic Violence).” During the process, he allegedly admitted assaulting his estranged girlfriend on June 5, 2012. The tribal judge sentenced Mr. Flett to a term of 360 days incarceration with credit for time served. The matter did not end there. The United States sought, and obtained, an indictment charging Mr. Flett with violations [2] of federal law. The federal indictment is based upon the same conduct that the 2012 tribal conviction is based upon. Counts one, two, and three allege Mr. Flett committed the crime of assault in Indian Country.18 U.S.C. §§ 1153(a)and113(a). Count four alleges he is subject to enhanced punishment based upon prior domestic violence convictions.18 U.S.C. § 117(a). The parties have filed a number of pretrial motions.
Laura S. Johnson has published “Frontier of Injustice: Alaska Native Victims of Domestic Violence” (PDF) in American University Law School’s “The Modern American.”
An excerpt:
This paper will present three pieces of a strategy to better combat domestic violence in Alaska Native communities. First, cooperation among sovereigns is critical to ensure that laws are enforced. Second, effective law enforcement can be enhanced by creative, community-based, culturally-sensitive models that respond to domestic violence through alternate forms of dispute resolution in Alaska Native communities such as tribal courts. The State of Alaska should actively encourage the development of tribal courts to offer victims alternative forms of dispute resolution because they can offer victims more immediate, culturally-sensitive and community-based remedies. And finally, Alaska Native tribes should exercise regulatory civil jurisdiction over domestic violence crimes in their communities to help Alaska Native victims of domestic violence achieve justice and be protected from their abusers. Part I lays the foundation for a discussion of legal remedies available to Native Alaskans by briefly examining the limitations on tribal jurisdiction in Alaska. Part II presents the remedies that are currently available to Alaska Native victims of domestic violence. Part III expands from the Alaska Supreme Court’s monumental decision in John v. Baker to argue that Alaska’s courts should recognize tribal jurisdiction in domestic violence cases just as Alaska’s Supreme Court recognized tribal adjudicatory jurisdiction in the family law context.
Here is the press release:
Here is the opinion in United States v. Mutte.
From ICT:
Part 1 of 4
Native American women experience the highest rates of Intimate Partner Violence of any ethnic group in the United States. Knowledge of the prevalence of IPV in Native American communities is an important starting point to understand the pervasiveness and importance of domestic violence in American Indian communities.
This article, the first in a series of four on IPV against Native women, explores the prevalence of IPV among Native Americans from the national to tribe-specific level, focusing on Native American communities in the Southwest. Although numbers will vary from community to community, health care personnel and prominent community members must be aware of the high prevalence in order to adequately respond to the needs of Native American women. The rates of domestic violence will not begin to decrease until the problem is recognized so resources can be mobilized in response.
A review of statistical research on the prevalence of intimate partner violence in Native populations provides the justification for studying this problem. However, a literature review can prove difficult because many studies are based on small reservation samples and cannot be extrapolated to a general population. In addition, national surveys often do not include a sufficient representative sample of Native women to provide reliable numbers according to an article in a 2006 American Journal of Public Health. Each study notes differences in study design, the definition of IPV, and the demographic characteristics of the study population, which complicates comparison and analysis. Because of these issues, this article uses a variety of sources, from national to tribe-specific, to provide a statistical base for the importance of the study on IPV in Native populations.
Continue reading
Sylvia Struss, a DNA attorney, published “DV Cases in Tribal Court” in the October 2009 issue of Arizona Attorney.
My paper on domestic violence in Indian Country will appear in the American Constitution Society publication “Advance” Spring 2009 edition.
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