Troy Eid, the chairman of the
Indian Law and Order Commission, and
Michael Geraghty, Alaska's Attorney General, appeared on Alaska Public Radio Network last week to discuss law enforcement issues in Alaska Native villages.
The commission is calling on Congress to treat former reservation lands that are
placed in trust as Indian Country in order to address gaps in state law
enforcement. Alaska tribes are currently excluded from the land-into-trust process at the
Bureau of Indian Affairs but
ongoing litigation might change that.
Alaska Natives are also excluded from the tribal jurisdiction
provisions of
S.47,
the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. The commission is calling on Congress to repeal the exclusion.
"A simple fix is the removal of the one section relating to Alaska, which
puts Alaska Native communities on par with Native communities throughout the
nation," the report states. "Allowing Tribal courts to issue protective orders,
to enforce them, and provide the local, immediate deterrence effect of these
judicial actions may be the single-most effective tool in fighting domestic
violence and sexual assault in Native communities in Alaska."
Get the Story:
Tribal Law and Order in Alaska
(Alaska Public Radio Network 11/15)
Indian Law and Order Commission Report:
A Roadmap For Making Native America Safer (November 2013)
Related Stories:
Indian Law and Order Commission sets timeline
for reform (11/13)
Indian Law and Order
Commission supports tribal authority (11/12)
Indian Law and Order Commission releases public
safety report (11/6)
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