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Senate Indian Affairs Committee holds hearing on victim services

Monday, June 8, 2015

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), left, and Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana), the chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Photo from Flickr

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee will hold an oversight hearing this Wednesday to focus on the need for victim services in Indian Country.

American Indians and Alaska Natives are more likely to be victimized than any other racial or ethnic group, according to federal studies. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and some tribes provide services to these victims but the Indian Law and Order Commission said they face numerous hurdles throughout the justice system.

"When federal and state criminal justice systems treat tribal citizens unfairly or are widely perceived as doing so, trust and confidence in the law erode further," the commission said in its final report. "Crime victims, witnesses, and defendants often must travel to far-off courthouses for their cases and testimony to be heard."

To help shed light on the issue, the committee will take testimony from a slate of tribal, federal and state officials. The witness list for the hearing follows:

Mr. Darren Cruzan
Director, Office of Justice Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C.
The Honorable A.T. “Rusty” Stafne
Chairman, Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes, Poplar, MT
The Honorable Dianne Barker Harrold
Tribal Court Judge, Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; Member, Cherokee Nation Victim Task Force, Ft. Gibson, OK
Mr. Gerad Godfrey
Chair, Violent Crimes Compensation Board; Senior Advisor, Rural Business & Intergovernmental Affairs, Office of the Governor, State of Alaska, Anchorage, AK

Committee Notice:
Oversight Hearing on "Addressing the Need for Victim Services in Indian Country" (June 10, 2015)