SACRED GROUND ISSUES

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SACRED GROUND ISSUES
Presented by Hon. Benjamin Zvenia Tribal Court
Judge (Member NC Nottaway Tribe)
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AZ Indian Tribes is 19 (15 represented)
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Sacred Site
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Course description

• To bring forward common issues pertaining to our
  shared goal of equal justice for all that are
  germane to tribal, state and federal court
  systems.
• This will be accomplished by providing a forum
  for collaboration and interaction on various
  issues

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Course Issues

• Tribal jurisdiction
• State Federal jurisdiction
• VAWA Domestic Violence Protection Orders (Full
  Faith Credit)
• Update on AZ-CIDVC Project Passport (NCSC)

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Jurisdiction defined

• The term jurisdiction refers to a governments
  power to exercise authority over all persons and
  things within its territory.

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Tribal Jurisdiction

• In general, this jurisdiction is regarded as part
  of the inherent sovereign power tribes retained
  to regulate the people and affairs in their
  territory, as independent nations.
• Specifically, this refers to the power
  authority codified by tribal governments that
  tribal courts have over criminal, civil and
  administrative matters.

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American Indians Crime

• USDOJ OJP
• BJS Statistical Profile, 1999 2002
  (Highlights)
• American Indians experienced violence at a rate
  (101 violent crimes per 1,000 American Indians)
  more than twice the rate for the Nation (41 per
  1,000 persons), 1992-2001

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BJS Statistics (contd)

• Annually, during 1992 to 2001 American Indians
  experienced on average 116,000 violent crimes of
  the estimated 9.1 million occurring among all
  racial groups.
• This accounted statistically for about 1.3 of
  all violent victimizations annually.
• On average during 1992 to 2001, American Indians
  age 12 or older experienced annually an estimated
  5,900 rapes or sexual assaults.

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• Violence Against Women is not a Native
  Tradition. It was not tolerated and in the rare
  event that it occurred, it was taken seriously.
  Abuse wasnt considered a private family matter
• Intro from Sacred Circles Handbook - Violence
  Against Native Women is not Traditional

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Sacred Circle 722 St. Joseph St., Rapid City,
SD 55701. Tel. [phone]
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Sacred Circle

• Sacred Circle, National Resource Center to End
  Violence Against Native Women, provides training,
  consultation and technical assistance to Indian
  Nations, tribal organizations, law enforcement
  agencies, prosecutors and courts to address the
  safety needs of Native women who are battered,
  raped and stalked.

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Sacred Circle (contd)

• Sacred Circle, provides advocacy to approximately
  3,000 women and children each year and
  approximately 2,400 men who are on domestic
  violence probation as ordered by the Oglala Sioux
  Tribe's Courts.

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Sacred Circle (Contd)

• For the last decade Sacred Circle has advocated
  for the safety of American Indian and Alaska
  Native Women, providing training, consultation
  and technical assistance on responding to crimes
  of violence against Native women, particularly
  domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.

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Sacred Circle (Points to note)

• We must deal with the reality that we are hurting
  each other. We must begin to responsibly address
  these issues as Native Peoples.
• One way that many tribes are attempting to deal
  with how we are hurting each other is through
  domestic violence, violence against women, family
  violence, spouse abuse laws. ABUSE NOT TOLERATED!

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Indigenous Way VAWA

• If the Physical, Mental, Emotional and
  Spiritual Well Being of the Women is intact, so
  too is that of the Family, Community and
  Society. - Indigenous Proverb

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VAWA - Native Orgs. Involved
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VAWA

• The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) 18 USC
  2265 2266 (PL 103-322, 108 Stat. 1930, Sept.
  13, 1994 amended Oct. 28, 2000).
• Currently, this act was revisited for renewal
  and has been approved by both House Senate)

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VAWA (contd)

• 2265 Full Faith and Credit Given to Protection
  Orders
• (a) Full Faith and Credit any protection order
  issued that is consistent with subsection (b) of
  this section by the court of one State or Indian
  tribe (the issuing State or Indian tribe) shall
  be accorded full faith and credit by the court of
  another State or Indian tribe (the enforcing
  State or Indian tribe) and enforced as if it were
  the order of the enforcing State or tribe.

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VAWA (contd)

• 2265 Full Faith and Credit Given to Protection
  Orders
• (e) Tribal Court Jurisdiction for purposes of
  this section, a tribal court shall have full
  civil jurisdiction to enforce protection orders,
  including authority to enforce any orders through
  civil contempt proceedings, exclusion of
  violators from Indian lands, and other
  appropriate mechanisms, in matters arising within
  the authority of the tribe.

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Prosecutors Guide to F.F.C. (highlight)

• While Indian tribes do not have criminal
  jurisdiction over non-Indians, many law
  enforcement officers in Indian Country have the
  authority to arrest non-Indian offenders
  transport them to state or federal authorities
  for criminal prosecution. Tribal courts retain
  their powers to assert civil jurisdiction over
  non-Indians to enforce protection orders.
  Congress affirmed this be passing the 2000
  amendment codified as 18 USC 2265(e)

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Resource tools

• Handouts
• Project Passport Bench cards
• Prosecutors Guide to F.F.C. P.O.s
• BATF Bench Cards

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Project Passport (Entities involved)
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Project Passport

• Project Passport is an example of communities, in
  this case states, coming together to problem
  solve and develop solutions to some common
  domestic violence issues.
• In this particular project, we focused on the
  issue of full faith and credit of orders of
  protection.

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Project Passport (contd)

• Initially, the project was an eight state
  regional effort. Kentucky is bordered by more
  states than any other in the country, so all came
  together as a region to develop a practical
  strategy to increase the implementation of the
  full faith and credit provision of the Violence
  Against Women Act. States included KY, OH, IN,
  IL, MO, TN, WV, VA, as well as DC who voluntarily
  joined the Project.

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Project Passport (contd)
KY- initiated with 7 surrounding states and D.C.
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Project Passport (contd)

• Initial strategy decided was to attempt to
  implement the development of a recognizable first
  page for those areas orders of protection.
• Since full faith and credit enforcement is really
  dependent first on law enforcement, and then the
  courts, this enforcement would be enhanced if
  orders of protection from all of our border
  states were readily recognizable to our officer
  and judges.

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Project Passport (contd)

• Having the first page of the orders look alike,
  or at least very similar, would certainly help an
  officer, who, at 200 o'clock in the morning, is
  standing there while people are crying and
  possibly bleeding, is handed an order from a
  court, an order that he/she has never seen
  before.
• It was reasoned that if the officer could easily
  recognize that this was an order of protection,
  it would increase enforceability as if it was an
  order from their state. It was also reasoned
  that this concept would benefit judges too.

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Project Passport (contd)

• The ultimate goal of the Project is for the
  regional model to be expanded throughout the rest
  of the country, to enhance the enforcement of
  orders of protection across all jurisdictional
  lines.
• Since initial concept, this Project has been
  brought to all regions including AZ which has
  agreed to implement 1st page provisions.

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I.C.W.A. - Resources

• www.naicja.org
• www.ntjrc.org
• www.nicwa.org

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DV Resources - websites

• www.supreme.state.az.us/cidvc/
• www.abanet.org/domviol/home.html
• www.safestate.org (CA - see Focus areas)
• www.sacred-circle.com
• www.ncsconline.org
• www.ncjfcj.org
• www.usdoj.gov/ovw/

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DV Resources websites (contd)

• Criminal Statistics DOJ/BJS
• www.albany.edu/sourcebook/
• V.P.C. Annual Report When Men Murder Women
• www.vpc.org/press/0509wmmw.htm
• Violence Against Women Network
• www.vawnet.org

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Final thoughts

• Megwetch, for participating in this presentation.
• Questions or comments?
• I can be reached as follows
• judgezvenia_at_abanet.org
• Personal Office [phone]
• Cell [phone]