Tribes should be able to prosecute people who commit crimes on reservations, a former federal prosecutor says.
Kevin Washburn, a former assistant U.S. Attorney and former general counsel to the National Indian Gaming Commission, said the justice system in Indian Country excludes the people most affected by crime.
Most cases are handled hundreds of miles away in the federal court system.
"It's not public in any real way, because it's not public to the community that's affected by it," Washburn said at a meeting of U.S. Attorneys, The Durango Herald reported. "It's hidden away in some other city. It's a very distant application of power."
The 14 federal prosecutors who heard the message were skeptical, the paper said. They raised constitutional questions about tribal prosecution, as well as practical concerns about tribal court systems.
The U.S. Supreme Court has barred tribes from prosecuting non-Indians. Even though tribes can prosecute their own members and other Indians, Congress has limited jail time and fines under the Indian Civil Rights Act.
In cases where the federal or state governments have jurisdiction, prosecution depends on the race of the offenders and the victims, as well as the Indian Country status of the land where the crime took place.
Get the Story:
Professor blasts how U.S. handles Indian crimes
(The Durango Herald 10/28)
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