Tribal court and law enforcement staff on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation in Arizona in 2013. Photo from Pascua Yaqui Bar Association
Complying with the Violence Against Women Act of 2013 can be costly yet Congress has failed to appropriate funds to help tribes improve their justice systems. The law authorized a total of $25 million over five years for training, technical assistance, victim services and other programs. The goal was to ensure tribes can exercise jurisdiction over all domestic violence offenders, including non-Indians. “Each tribe is different and each tribe has a different justice system in different stages of development, so depending on the tribe it could cost as much as $100,000 or it could cost as much as half a million dollars to put a system in place,” Alfred Urbina, the attorney general for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona said at a forum at the Department of Justice earlier this month, Cronkite News reported. The tribe was one of the first to prosecute non-Indians under a pilot program. The authorizing provision runs through fiscal year 2018 so Congress would presumably have to take action again to ensure tribes receive the full $25 million promised in VAWA. Get the Story:
Power to Prosecute: Violence against Women and Tribes (Cronkite News 10/16)
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