Congratulations to Sheri Freemont, Chief Prosecutor of the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community. She was recently received the “2008 Director of the Year” award from the Community. Tribal leadership said Ms. Freemont has significantly contributed to the betterment of services of the Community by her amazing leadership.
Category Archives: Alumni
Alumni: Elizabeth Cheney (’05)
Alumni: Dawn Bitz (’03)
ILP ALUMNI & COMMUNITY SURVEYS
Dear Alumni, Current Students & Indian Law Community —
The Indian Legal Program is currently developing a new strategic plan. We do not want to complete the process without you. Your thoughts and comments will help us establish priorities and determine our strengths and weaknesses. This survey covers numerous topics including fundraising, curriculum, areas for growth, etc. and also includes a section for general comments and new ideas.
To make it as easy as possible, we have created an on-line survey to gather information. The Alumni survey is for people who attended ASU College of Law and participated in the Indian Legal Program. The Community survey is for people who know about or may have worked with the Indian Legal Program. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey by clicking on the link below. If your link does not automatically take you to the survey, please cut and paste the link into your browser. Your submissions are anonymous. We are only provided the results.
ALUMNI LINK
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ZkT891bvzvgm24zzVYYrjg_3d_3d
COMMUNITY LINK
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2f_2f0n_2f_2fpGpTKMUZSuA6Zjqw_3d_3d
I know your time is valuable. Thank you in advance for your support and feedback.
Kate Rosier, Director
Indian Legal Program
(480) 965-6204
Intertribal Court of Southern California – Temet Aguilar (’02)
New home more centrally located, officials say
By EDWARD SIFUENTES – Staff Writer Wednesday, July 30, 2008 11:05 PM PDT
By EDWARD SIFUENTES – Staff Writer Wednesday, July 30, 2008 11:05 PM PDT
The Intertribal Court of Southern California has a new home at the Rincon Indian Reservation. Lisa Powless, the court’s clerk, answers phones at the new location. (Photo by Edward Sifuentes – Staff Photographer) The Intertribal Court of Southern California has a new home at the Rincon Indian Reservation. Temet Aguilar, the court’s administrator, said the facility is scheduled for a grand opening ceremony Friday. (Photo by Edward Sifuentes – Staff Photographer)
RINCON INDIAN RESERVATION —- The fledgling Intertribal Court of Southern California has a new home at the Rincon Indian Reservation.The 3-year-old court deals with legal issues that arise on local American Indian reservations, such as civil disputes and land use, housing and family matters. It serves as an appeals court, mediator and arbitrator for 10 San Diego County tribes.Until earlier this month, the court was housed in an office building in Escondido. The Rincon tribe offered to remodel a building at its reservation on Golsh Road. The building was formerly occupied by the Indian Health Council, a clinic serving local tribal communities.Rincon will lease the building to the court for $1 a year, said Temet Aguilar, the court’s administrator. On Wednesday, construction workers were at work remodeling the 4,000-square-foot building, half of which will be used by the court. The space includes a reception area, administrative offices, a library, a conference room and a courtroom. The building is more than just a new home for the fledgling court, Aguilar said. “What this represents is the tribes entering into the modern era of their development by exercising their sovereignty,” Aguilar said. In 2006, retired Superior Court Commissioner Anthony Brandenburg was sworn in as the intertribal court’s judge. Brandenburg said the intertribal court fills a judicial gap that was created by the federal government in the 1950s. In California and several other states, law enforcement agencies, such as the sheriff’s department, have jurisdiction over criminal matters under a federal law called Public Law 280. However, sheriff’s deputies cannot enforce laws enacted by tribal governments, such as land use, hunting and illegal dumping ordinances. And outside courts don’t have authority to settle disputes among tribal members, such as trespassing, evictions and other minor infractions. Federal courts handle felony cases on the reservations. On local reservations, tribal councils, usually made up of five elected officials, serve as “judges” over disputes that occur in their reservations. They also are sometimes called upon to settle patron disputes in their casinos.Since most local tribes are small, family conflicts can often occur when disputes erupt in tribal communities. For tribes that participate in the system, the intertribal court serves as an independent judiciary, where people can appeal tribal council decisions, Brandenburg said. The court “takes the personal and political aspect out of it,” Brandenburg said. The member tribes are: Los Coyotes Band of Mission Indians, La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians, Manzanita Band of Kumeyaay Nation, Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians, Pala Band of Cupeno Indians, Pauma Yuima Band of Mission Indians, Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians, San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians, Santa Ysabel Band of Diegueno Indians and Jamul Indian Village. The intertribal court is largely funded by its member tribes and assistance from the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association, a nonprofit organization that administers various welfare, educational and cultural programs for local tribes. Last year, the intertribal court handled about 100 cases. Most of the cases involved trespass disputes and family matters, such as child custody and child support disputes. It served as a mediator or arbiter in about 25 other cases, Aguilar said. The new location, which is more centrally located for most local tribes, may drive up demand for the court. It is also conveniently located near the Indian Health Council, which serves many of the same tribes as the court, said Court Clerk Lisa Powless. “I feel more involved in the community,” Powless said referring to the new location. “I like it.”
Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.
NPR on Dorgan Bill
Below is a link to the audio of the NPR story on the Dorgan bill. Salt River President Diane Enos (’92) is quoted both in the short article and is interviewed in the audio.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92833011
Nation
Bill Bolsters Tribal Power To Prosecute Rape Cases
by Jenny Gold
Previous Coverage
In an award-winning series, NPR’s Laura Sullivan reported on the prevalence of rape on tribal lands and the difficulty in prosecuting sexual assault cases.
July 25, 2007Rape Cases On Indian Lands Go Uninvestigated
July 26, 2007Legal Hurdles Stall Rape Cases On Native Lands
All Things Considered, July 23, 2008 · Native American women are far more likely to be raped than other women – and tribal officials say many incidents on reservations across the country go unreported and uninvestigated, NPR’s Laura Sullivan reported a year ago on All Things Considered.
The Justice Department estimates that 1 in 3 Native American women will be raped in her lifetime, and most victims who do report their assaults describe their attackers as non-Native. Legally, tribal authorities can do little to stop them. Chickasaw Tribal Police Chief Jason O’Neal told NPR in 2007 that “many of the criminals know Indian lands are almost a lawless community that they can do whatever they want.”
For the past year, the Senate has held hearings on reservations nationwide on how to stop the assaults. The resulting legislation, called the Tribal Law and Order Act, was introduced in the Senate on Wednesday by Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, who is chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
Dorgan’s bill has three primary goals. First, it would make it easier for tribal police like O’Neal to arrest non-Indians who commit federal crimes on tribal lands, including sexual assault. Second, it would increase the sentencing power of tribal courts by allowing them to put convicted tribal members behind bars for three years instead of one – and even send them to federal prison. Third, the bill would increase accountability for U.S. attorneys by requiring them to keep a record of every case on tribal lands they decline to prosecute.
“I think now the women finally have a voice,” said Georgia Littleshield, director of the Pretty Bird Woman House domestic violence shelter on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in South Dakota.
“I sit with women who cry and are mad because the feds didn’t want to pick up the case. This bill, I think, would give women more of a right, that the prosecutor’s got to be more accountable for federal jurisdiction on these cases. And he’s going to have to be accountable for the cases he doesn’t prosecute,” Littleshield said.
But others have their doubts about the legislation, including Diane Enos, president of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community in Arizona. She says the bill is better than nothing, but it doesn’t do enough. With money from their successful gaming casinos, the Pima-Maricopa tribe has been able to hire its own police. But even with extra security for the community, tribal officials still cannot prosecute non-Indian assailants.
“You’ve got Congress people who are scared stiff of seeing tribes get authority over non-Indians. I’m not sure that they understand why, but it’s almost a knee-jerk reaction. If they came, took the time to come here to look at our courts, our police departments and the due process we afford, maybe they would feel a little bit different,” Enos says.
The Justice Department is concerned that giving tribes the right to send offenders to federal prisons will cause overcrowding.
Nonetheless, the Senate bill is gaining bipartisan momentum. A companion bill is expected soon in the House.
Alumni Breakfast – RSVP!
You are invited to attend the ILP’s Alumni and Friends Breakfast!
The breakfast will be held on
THURSDAY, April 10th at 7:30 a.m.
at the Albuquerque Marriott.
This is the first day of the Federal Bar Association’s Indian Law Conference.
Exact location within the Marriott will be announced at a later date. Hope to see you there!
Please RSVP by April 4th to Sunny Larson
at Sunny.Larson@asu.edu or (480) 965-6413.
Alumni News: Zachary Cain (’00)
Zachary Cain (’00) has joined Mariscal Weeks McIntyre & Friedlander in Phoenix. Zach has over seven years’ experience in criminal defense mattersa and government investigations, including trial experience in both state and federal courts. Previously, he was a senior attorney for the Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office and an assistant federal defender in the District of Montana.
Fed Bar Dates – April 10 & 11
SAVE THE DATE: Federal Bar Association’s Indian Law Conference
April 10th and 11th, 2008
http://www.fedbar.org/Indianlaw-brochure08.pdf
ASU Faculty and Alumni on the Agenda Include:
- Professor Robert Clinton
- Judge Joseph Flies-Away
- Chief Justice Herb Yazzie
- Diane Humetewa
- Allison Binney
ILP Alumni & Friends Breakfast – 4/10/08
You are invited to attend the ILP’s Alumni and Friends Breakfast!
The breakfast will be held on
THURSDAY, April 10th at 7:30 a.m.
at the Albuquerque Marriott.
This is the first day of the Federal Bar Association’s Indian Law Conference.
Exact location within the Marriott will be announced at a later date. Hope to see you there!
Please RSVP by April 4th to Sunny Larson