TRIBAL ALERT!
Proposed Southern California Tribal Justice Center
March 27, 2002

This alert contains background to the proposed Southern California Tribal Justice Center as well as a sample support letter we are asking Tribes to send to Senator Dianne Feinstein.  The support letters are necessary to demonstrate Tribally based support for this collaborative effort to establish tribal justice systems in Southern California.  Please read through the following background and then put the sample letter on your Tribal letterhead.  Please send the support letter by March 29, 2002, if possible, to move this up on Senator Feinstein's priority list; please continue to send after that date to show strong support.  If you have questions, please contact Devon Reed at (760) 746-8941, extension 106.

Background

We seek your assistance to obtain a $400,000 earmark in the Justice Department’s FY 2003 budget under the Byrne Grant Fund or other appropriate fund (such as the Indian Tribal Justice Technical and Legal Assistance Act of 2000; Public Law 106-559) for the establishment of a Southern California Tribal Justice Center. This proposal is a cooperative partnership effort involving Southern California Tribes, the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, Southern California Tribal Chairman’s Association (SCTCA), UCLA American Indian Studies Center, California Indian Legal Services, and other governmental entities and organizations throughout Southern California.

The FY 2002 budget for the Justice Department’s Byrne Grant Fund contained a $400,000 earmark for the National Tribal Justice Center to establish a Northern California Regional Tribal Justice Center (see http://www.nijc.indian.com/rjc/home.htm opens new window) to serve the Tribes in Lake, Mendocino, and Sonoma Counties in Northern California (see Public Law 107-77, House Report 107-278, page 90). This proposed Southern California Tribal Justice Center would provide education and resource services that are specifically designed to address the unique needs of the approximately 50 Southern California Tribes, including, but not be limited to, Tribes in the following counties: San Diego, Imperial, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Inyo, Tulare, Fresno, and Kings. These proposed education and resources services, however, would also be made available through various websites to other California Tribes, Tribes in other Public Law 280 states (especially Alaska), and other Tribes throughout the country.

The United States Congress has repeatedly recognized that "tribal justice systems are an essential part of tribal governments and serve as important forums for ensuring public health and safety and the political integrity of tribal governments", but "tribal justice systems are inadequately funded, and the lack of funding impairs their operation" (Indian Tribal Justice Act of 1993; Public Law 103-176; 25 U.S.C. 3601). As set forth in the FY2001 testimony of the President of the National American Indian Court Judges Association (NAICJA) (see http://www.naicja.org/justice_testimony.htm opens new window) :

Native American tribal courts must deal with a wide range of difficult criminal and civil justice problems on a daily basis, including the following:

• While the crime rate, especially the violent crime rate, has been declining nationally, it has increased substantially in Indian Country. However, tribal court systems are grossly under-funded to deal with these critical criminal justice problems.
  

• The number and complexity of tribal court civil caseloads have also been rapidly expanding.
  

• Congress recognized this need when it enacted the Indian Tribal Justice Act in 1993. Congress specifically found that "tribal justice systems are an essential part of tribal governments and serve as important forums for ensuring public health and safety and the political integrity of tribal governments" and "tribal justice systems are inadequately funded, and the lack of adequate funding impairs their operation".
  

• While the Indian Tribal Justice Act promised more than $58 million per year in additional funding for tribal court systems starting in FY1994, tribal courts have yet to see any funding under this Act.
  

• Since Congress enacted the Indian Tribal Justice Act, the needs of tribal court systems have continued to increase, but there has been no corresponding increase in funding for tribal court systems. In fact, the Bureau of Indian Affairs funding for tribal courts has actually decreased.

California Tribes have been grossly under funded by the Interior Department relative to Tribes in other states. As a report to the Advisory Council on California Indian Policy (a Council created by Congressional Act – Public Law 102-416; 25 U.S.C. 651 note) recently found – "For over 100 years, studies conducted by federal, state, and private agencies have reached the same conclusion: California Indians are not receiving a fair share from federal Indian programs; and because they have received less support from the federal government, California Indians have suffered in social-economic well-being relative to other Indian groups in other states."

This historic lack of funding has been especially destructive with regard to tribal law enforcement and tribal justice systems. Consequently, there are only a few functioning Southern California tribal courts. Public Law 83-280 has complicated the development of tribal law enforcement and tribal justice systems in California, especially the historic federal policies implementing Public Law 280 in California (see the article "Public Law 280: Issues and Concerns for Victims of Crime in Indian Country" - http://www.tribal-institute.org/_articles/gardner_full.htm opens new window). Moreover, Professor Carole Goldberg, the preeminent legal authority on Public Law 280, has made a compelling case that Public Law 280, a law which was allegedly designed to cure the problem of "lawlessness" on reservations, has instead contributed to the problem of lawlessness on California reservations for the Native and non-Native residents on and near California reservations.

In order to maintain law and order and provide dispute resolution forums for Native and non-Native residents on and near reservations throughout California, it is vital that California Tribes receive adequate assistance to develop and enhance tribal justice and law enforcement systems. These effective systems would benefit both Native and non-Native residents throughout California in many ways, including the following:

1) Tribes will be in a stronger position to carry out environmental enforcement activities (e.g., over solid waste disposal) that states are unable to carry out within Indian country.  Because polluting activities often have boundary spillover effects, surrounding non-Indian communities will benefit.

2) Tribes will be in a stronger position to deal with housing and community development, including addressing problems, such as evictions, that state and federal courts lack authority to address.  Tribal inability to carry out evictions has sometimes led to self-help and other disruptive behavior that can lead to intervention from state and local law enforcement authorities.

3) Tribes will have a more effective forum for addressing claims of employees, customers, and vendors, many of whom live off-reservation.  These individuals are currently unable to bring claims against tribes in state or federal courts because of tribal sovereign immunity.

4) Tribes will be in a stronger position to introduce culturally appropriate legal responses to community problems such as juvenile misbehavior, domestic abuse, and substance abuse.  These culturally appropriate responses may be more effective in preventing future offenses, thus reducing the burden on local law enforcement.

Most California Tribes are in the process of establishing tribal justice and tribal law enforcement systems. Many of these Tribes have demonstrated their interest in court development through applications for Bureau of Justice Assistance development grants. These California tribal justice and law enforcement systems are now at a very critical stage of development – and in vital need of training and technical assistance services to facilitate tribal justice and law enforcement development and enhancement.

The report to the Advisory Council on California Indian Policy made the following recommendations with regard to tribal law enforcement and tribal justice systems:

• Congress and the Bureau of Indian Affairs should allocate adequate funds for the planning, establishment, and ongoing operation of tribal law enforcement and justice systems in California, where tribes request such assistance.
  

• Congress should pass legislation authorizing significantly increased funding to enable California Indian tribes to revise their constitutions and legal codes in order to enhance self-governance and address changing economic, legal, and political conditions. A program should be created to provide funds and technical assistance to all tribes that believe they must revise their constitutions and legal codes.

Most California Tribes, however, are small and continue to be at a competitive disadvantage with regard to the current limited federal tribal court funding. For example, the current limited Bureau of Justice Assistance fund for Developing, Implementing, Enhancing, and Operating Tribal Courts (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/pdf/tribalcts.pdf opens new window) is based on tribal population and limits tribal court development funding to tribes with a population equal to or exceeding 1,000 people.

It would be most cost effective and culturally appropriate to provide Southern California Tribes with a regional tribal justice center that provides a wide range of training and technical assistance services concerning the foundational components of tribal governance and tribal justice in a manner that is specifically designed to address the unique needs of Southern California Tribes. These tribal court development and enhancement training and technical assistance services would include, but not be limited to, services such as the development and dissemination of technical assistance and resources to (1) assist each community to establish and implement a tribal court development process (including research, process, and implementation components); (2) assist in the establishment of intertribal or consortium tribal courts and tribal appellate courts; (3) assist in the development of the "model" tribal laws (such as constitutions, codes, and court rules); (4) assist in the adaptation of these "model" tribal laws to meet the needs of individual tribes; (5) assist in the prioritization of specific types of cases for individual tribal courts to handle – including the development of the tribal codes and infrastructure needed to handle each type of case; and (6) assist in the coordination of these tribal court development and enhancement efforts so that each individual tribe does not have to "reinvent the wheel" through resource sharing efforts such as the holding of conferences and the establishment of a California Tribal Court Judges Association.

We propose that the Tribal Law and Policy Institute (TLPI) would manage this Southern California Tribal Justice Center. A council consisting of representatives from Southern California Tribes and organizations, however, would govern the proposed center.

The Tribal Law and Policy Institute (TLPI) is a Native American owned and operated non-profit corporation organized to design and deliver education, research, training, and technical assistance programs which promote the enhancement of justice in Indian country and the health, well-being, and culture of Native peoples (see http://www.tribal-institute.org/lists/tlpi.htm opens new window). TLPI seeks to facilitate the sharing of resources so that Indian Nations and tribal justice systems have access to cost effective resources that can be adapted to meet the individual needs of their communities. TLPI strives to establish programs which link tribal justice systems with other academic, legal, and judicial resources such as law schools, Indian law clinics, tribal colleges, Native American Studies programs, Indian legal organizations and consultants, tribal legal departments, other tribal courts, and other judicial and legal institutions.

Furthermore, TLPI is particularly known for its comprehensive Tribal Court Clearinghouse (http://www.tribal-institute.org opens new window.) - the first website devoted to providing information to people working in Native American tribal justice systems. TLPI has also developed websites for other Native organizations (http://www.tribalresourcecenter.org and http://www.naicja.org opens new windows) and is in the process of developing websites for individual tribal justice systems.

This proposal is a cooperative partnership effort involving Southern California Tribes, the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, Southern California Tribal Chairman’s Association (SCTCA), UCLA American Indian Studies Center, California Indian Legal Services, and other governmental entities and organizations throughout Southern California.

Documents

Alert (PDF -opens new window)

Support Letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein (PDF - opens new window)

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