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iCloud Mail - VAWA ACTION ALERT: Tell House: "VAWA Bill Does Not Meet the Needs of Indian Country"

VAWA ACTION ALERT: Tell House: "VAWA Bill Does Not Meet the Needs of Indian Country"
From NCAI - National Congress of American Indians 43 minutes ago
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February 25, 2013

Tell the House of Representatives the House Leadership VAWA Bill Does Not Meet the Needs of Indian Country
On Friday, House leadership filed legislation which it intends to consider on Wednesday. Unfortunately, this legislation would change the strong bipartisan Senatepassed version of the bill, S. 47 the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 in key areas, which roll back current law and take a defendantbased protection approach to address a serious epidemic of unfettered domestic abuse on Indian reservations. NCAI released a statement in opposition to the proposed House language this past Friday. The solution is simple. We need tribal leaders and advocates to make their voices heard, and tell Congress that 'Sovereignty is the solution; not the problem' and that tribes simply need jurisdiction to protect women. Also, tell them if a House compromise must be made, the sensible solution is H.R. 780, which was recently introduced by Congressman Darrell Issa (RCA49) and appropriately balances defendants' rights with the urgent need to protect Native women from unfettered violence (See Sensible Solution for House Leadership section below for more on H.R. 780). For a List of Your House Representatives, click here. For a Sample Letter to Fax or Email, click here.

The House Leadership Bill Rolls Back Current Law

The recently proposed language from the House would roll back current law regarding tribal courts' protection order jurisdiction. Currently, this is the only local and effective recourse Native women victims of violence arguably have against nonIndian
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iCloud Mail - VAWA ACTION ALERT: Tell House: "VAWA recourse Native women victims of violence arguablyBill Does Not Meet thenonIndianCountry" have against Needs of Indian perpetrators.

The 2000 VAWA Reauthorization included language which made it clear that every Indian tribe had full civil authority to issue and enforce protection orders against all individuals. The proposed language in the House would restrict this jurisdiction significantly. Tribes would need to seek certification through the Attorney General to exercise this civil authority, and then the tribe would only retain the authority to issue protection orders over nonIndians if: they live or work on the reservation; or if they are, or have been, in an intimate relationship with a tribal member. This last requirement adds an unjust and unnecessary burden of proof to victims seeking immediate assistance from their local courts. Also, the law as drafted would subject Indian tribes to federal statutes meant to apply to States, including numerous processes and procedures, which would apply on top of the tribal court's own practices and procedures (for specific examples, see discussion below). This additional layer of processes and procedures will inevitably serve to frustrate justice in tribal courts, which are already subject to a strong and proven federal framework: the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968.

The Proposed House Special Domestic Violence Jurisdiction is Unworkable and Would Frustrate Justice in Tribal Courts
Further, while the Senate bill recognizes an Indian tribe's selfgovernance authority to protect Native women victims of violence, it adds additional protections for nonIndian defendants. Unfortunately, while the House bill offers unworkable federal oversight of tribal courts. The recently proposed House legislation would add: A certification process by the Attorney General's Office for tribes to exercise this 'special domestic violence jurisdiction' over nonIndians, even though the Department of Justice already drafted the bipartisanpassed Senate version of the bill; A 1year sentencing limitation on tribal courts for crimes covered under the Act, even where the same crime if prosecuted in federal court would require harsher sentencing; A federal removal provision that may be exercised by either the defendant or a United States Attorney, and subjects tribes to the same procedures and processes as states; A different set of Habeus Corpus guidelines, outside of the Indian Civil Rights Act, to abide by as States; An interlocutory appeal process, as well as a direct review of the final judgment; A right for tribes to be sued, which will provide even more opportunities for perpetrators to abuse tribal court systems; and A duty for the Attorney General to appoint not less than 10 qualified tribal prosecutors as special prosecutors, with a preference given to Indian tribes that are not exercising this special domestic violence jurisdiction. Time and time again, Indian tribes have proven that they are most efficient when they operate their own governance. The current Administration has continued a strong policy towards selfdetermination and selfgovernance, and Congress should not sway from this policy now.
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policy now.

iCloud Mail - VAWA ACTION ALERT: Tell House: "VAWA Bill Does Not Meet the Needs of Indian Country"

Two weeks ago, Congressman Darrell Issa (RCA49) introduced H.R. 780, which is a sensible solution to the concerns expressed by House Leadership. Currently, this bill continues to receive support from House membership. This bill would take the bipartisanpassed Senate bill, which provides a full panoply of protections for defendants, and add one additional measure the right for the defendant to remove his case to federal court, upon a showing that the tribal court violated one of these protections. For an easy to read chart of how these protections are provided through the Senatepassed bill and H.R. 780, click here. In this manner, the Indian tribe retains jurisdiction, pledges to carry out justice in a manner consistent with state courts, and avoid undue judicial delay in administering justice for Native women victims of violence. This Issa/Cole bill is the sensible solution because it begins with the question: 'How does Congress protect Native women?' and answers it in a sensible manner; rather than the alternative question, 'How does Congress protect alleged domestic abusers that evade prosecution because they abuse Indians on the reservation?' Please call your representatives in Congress and tell them you oppose the proposed House substitute for S.47 and urge them to support H.R. 780 as the House compromise to the Senate bill. It is the sensible approach that recognizes tribal selfgovernance and protects Native women, while appropriately balancing defendants' rights. For further questions or concerns, please contact NCAI Staff Attorney, Derrick Beetso at (202) 4667767 or dbeetso@ncai.org.

The Sensible Solution for House Leadership

Foundedin1944,theNationalCongressofAmericanIndiansistheoldest,largestandmostrepresentativeAmericanIndian andAlaskaNativeorganizationinthecountry.NCAIadvocatesonbehalfoftribalgovernments,promotingstrongtribal federalgovernmenttogovernmentpolicies,andpromotingabetterunderstandingamongthegeneralpublicregarding AmericanIndianandAlaskaNativegovernments,peopleandrights.

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