Tribal Justice

On Friday, November 13, 2015, the National American Indian Court Judges Association hosted a Roundtable to discuss Holistic and Traditional Justice. Thirty-seven individuals attended the Roundtable, including tribal court judges, legal services attorneys, TTA providers, professors, and students.

Chia Halpern, Jerry Gardner and Kelly Stoner met with the Tribal Women's Coalitions at the end of the ITWG meeting to debrief, go over their concerns, TA needs and to answer questions.

Jerry Gardner, Kelly Stoner and Chia Halpern assisted NCAI with planning and facilitating the fifth in-person ITWG meeting at Squaxin Island, WA.

Chia Halpern, Lauren Frinkman, Heather Valdez Singleton, Maureen White Eagle and Jerry Gardner reviewed the VAWA SDVCJ Pilot Project Report initiated by the National Congress of American Indians. The TLPI staff reviewed for content and edited as appropriate. They also added text where necessary, added photos and relevant statistical information.

Chia Halpern attended the Tribal Leadership Symposium hosted by the Strong Hearted Native Women's Coalition. Chia shared information on the Dollar General Supreme Court case, shared TA services and participated in discussion on the upcoming Intertribal Working Group meeting and OVW consultation regarding VAWA.

Chia Halpern attended the NCAI pre meeting: VAWA Task Force to provide information on TLPI resources and TA available. Chia shared the TLOA Enhanced Sentencing/VAWA SDVCJ implementing tribes chart with the group and discussed the upcoming VAWA Intertribal Working Group meeting.

Chia Halpern and Kelly Stoner presented "VAWA 2013 Pilot Project Report: Addressing Domestic Violence by Non-Indians," "VAWA Code Development to Address Domestic Violence," and “Specific SDVCJ Implementation Issues for Tribes”.

Kelly Stoner discussed the ramifications of the VAWA special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians and how it intersects with homes affected by domestic violence and child abuse.

Chia Halpern moderated the webinar which focused on ways for law school clinics to provide assistance to tribes seeking to exercise the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) 2013 enhanced jurisdiction. An important step in preparing to exercise SDVCJ is to revise and/or draft tribal codes. Indian law clinics can greatly assist tribes with the needed code drafting.

Center staff conducted 2 phone calls and 8 email correspondence with members of the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians Tribe. The correspondence was to discuss strategies for implementing culturally responsive programming. Staff also set up several calls with the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians Tribe domestic violence court coordinator and contacts at 2 other tribal programs. Programs that we arranged calls with included Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Victims Service Program, and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe’s prosecutor’s office to discuss VAWA implementation.