Tribal courts will be able to impose three-year sentences under the Tribal Law and Order Act that passed the Senate on June 23.

The Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 limits sentences to one year. Tribes have sought to impose higher sentences and in some cases have "stacked" punishments in order to go around the limit.

“If we have very serious offenders we’ll be able to take them off the street,” Tom Katsilometes, the tribal court administrator for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of Idaho, told The Blackfoot Morning News.

The bill passed the Senate after being included in the H.R.725, the Indian Arts and Crafts Amendments Act of 2010.

Get the Story:
Bill would impact tribal justice (The Blackfoot Morning News 7/13)

Tribal Law and Order Act:
S.797 | H.R.1924

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