"Commit an act of domestic violence in a neighboring county or state, and you can be arrested by local authorities and prosecuted in that jurisdiction's court. Commit an act of domestic violence in another country, you can be arrested by local authorities and prosecuted in a court in that country.

But commit an act of domestic violence on a Native American reservation, and Tribal police can’t arrest you. Not if you’re not Native American. And whether you go to court is up to the county prosecutor, not the court that has jurisdiction over the reservation.

A provision in the Violence Against Women Act would correct this gap in justice.

For 16 years, the federal Violence Against Women Act provided additional funding for investigation and prosecution of violent crimes against women, imposed automatic and mandatory restitution on those convicted, and allowed civil redress in cases prosecutors didn’t prosecute. The law expired in January when members of the US House of Representatives couldn’t agree on extending criminal jurisdiction to Native American courts, and on extending the Act to include same-gender couples and undocumented immigrants."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Reauthorize Violence Against Women Act with Tribal provisions (The North Kitsap Herald 2/9)

Related Stories:
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Senate set to vote on VAWA with tribal jurisdiction provision (2/7)
White House backs tribal jurisdiction provisions in VAWA bill (2/5)
Frontline: Closing a loophole in VAWA to help Native women (2/5)
Ryan Dreveskracht: Tribal provisions of VAWA up for debate (2/5)
Opinion: The Violence Against Women Act is on life support (01/28)
Matt Remle: Violence against women, violence against earth (1/25)
Haley Elkins: Media goes silent on the failure to pass VAWA (1/24)
NCAI calls on Congress to pass Violence Against Women Act (01/24)