The justice system of a society is the reflection of a society’s values and a flawed system is indicative of an unsafe society, a result that can be seen in Native American reservations (Identification of Controversy) (Lead). The justice system in Native American reservations should be improved by increasing the number of prosecuted crimes, increasing the severity of prison sentences by tribal courts, and by promoting the Violence Against Women Act (Thesis).
The Justice Department declines too many serious crime cases, such as sexual abuse cases, to improve the statistics of crime in Native American Reservations (Topic Sentence). The Justice Department estimates that crime rates in Native American reservations are “two and a half times higher than the national average” (Williams 1) (Logical Appeal). Native American women are especially in danger as they are assaulted and raped at four times the American average and murdered at ten times the American average (Logical Appeal). Despite these alarming statistics, federal prosecutors declined fifty-two percent of major crime cases in reservations (Logical Appeal) even when there was adequate evidence to file charges (Williams 2).
Although tribal courts can prosecute serious crimes, the maximum sentence it can issue is three years in prison, an overwhelmingly light sentence for crimes such as rape (Williams 2) (Topic Sentence). A three-year sentence to prison for rape in a reservation is trivial compared to the United States’ average 162 months or 13.5 year sentence to prison for rape, according to information gathered from the Bureau of Justice statistics (Durose 6) (logical appeal). Tribal courts often turn serious crime files over for federal prosecution to increase the severity of the punishment (Williams 2). Crime rates are more likely to go down with harsher sentences than with lighter sentences as people are discouraged from committing crimes to avoid the punishment (logical appeal). However, if the Justice department continues to decline filing charges, crime rates in reservations will only remain stagnant or even increase due to the reservations’ lack of severity in prosecution.
The Violence Against Women Act should receive larger funds as it provides more justice to Native American women (Topic Sentence). Prior to the Violence Against Women Act, non-natives could not be tried in a native court. As President Obama said, “One of the reasons [for violent crime rates] is that when women are abused on tribal lands by an attacker who is not Native American, the attacker is immune from prosecution by tribal courts.
The term sovereignty is a broad topic that has many different definitions. The most common definition is a nation or groups ability or right to govern themselves. Sovereignty is a term and idea that goes hand in hand with Native Americans throughout history. Native American tribes were once considered sovereign nation until shortly after the arrival of European settlers. Native Americans lost their sovereignty due to the forceful assimilation into white culture by European settlers. The problem with this is that Native Americans have been in North American, acting as self-governing groups, since the beginning days. What sets Native Americans apart from other “minority groups” is that they have existed as self-governing peoples and are more than a group
While the restorative justice movement has risen in recent years, the idea of circle sentencing, or peacemaking circles has been practiced in indigenous cultures for quite some time. As we look at implementing traditional indigenous culture practices as alternative dispute resolutions, we need to realize the effectiveness and also whether we are ready to use them. The Yukon and other communities reintroduced circles in 1991 as a practice of the restorative justice movement (Bazemore, 1997, p.27). Around that same time, Minnesota made the breakthrough in borrowing the practices with each band of Native Americans having their own political communications. Because Minnesota has seven Anishinaabe tribes and four Dakota communities, it has been one of the first states to lead the way for this new program. A circle sentencing program has also been implemented in North Minneapolis for African-American juvenile problems (Ulrich, 1999, p. 425).
In this proposal our team seeks to explore the injustices within the Indian Act. To achieve this our proposed research will examine the target population being the aboriginal woman. The paper will further explore the oppressions faced by the aboriginal women within the Indian Act. In conclusion, this proposal will sum up the negative impact that the Indian Act had on aboriginal women and how it continues to oppress this population within the Canadian National discourse.
Wilcox, B. (1996). Dennis Banks runs for justice on behalf or American Indian Rights. Metro, 14-20.Retrieved January 20, 2005, from http://siouxme.com/lodge/banks.html
The removal of Indian tribes was one of the tragic times in America’s history. Native Americans endured hard times when immigrants came to the New World. Their land was stolen, people were treated poorly, tricked, harassed, bullied, and much more. The mistreatment was caused mostly by the white settlers, who wanted the Indians land. The Indians removal was pushed to benefit the settlers, which in turn, caused the Indians to be treated as less than a person and pushed off of their lands. MOREEE
trial of two men for the 1971 murder of Helen Betty Osborne in The Pas Manitoba.
With such tarnished views of the justice system and those who work for it, policing alongside a Native American tribe can face additional problems and challenges. How Native American’s and Americans communicate
The gross over representation of indigenous people in the Australian criminal justice system (CJS) is so disturbingly evident that it is never the source of debate. Rather it is the starting point of discussions centring on the source and solutions to this prominent social, cultural and political issue. Discourse surrounds not only the economic and social disadvantage of indigenous communities, but also the systemic racism and continuing intergenerational trauma resulting for the unjust colonisation of a nation which has profited whites at the detriment to indigenous people throughout history. In respect to the currently CJS, trepidations are raised by indigenous communities around the lack of culturally diverse laws and punishments within the system. The overtly western system does not provide a viable space for indigenous
The system in place is completely unsuitable and unhelpful for Native people and it shows just how indifferent Canada is to First Nations peoples’ well-being. Zimmerman explains in his article “Outcomes” that it is a well-known fact that Aboriginal people are overrepresented in the prison system (1992). There are so many reasons why this is so, and the majority of those reasons are because of the terrible way that Canada has interacted with them. They are isolated in their reserves, they are haunted by their residential school experiences, leading to alcoholism, domestic violence and neglect, and they face discrimination and a lack of social support from the government. Once an Aboriginal person finds themselves in the clutches of the prison system, the indifference begins. Canada’s criminal justice system is indifferent to an Aboriginal person’s cultural, spiritual, and individual needs that separate them from the average convicted person (Zimmerman, 1992). The criminal justice system ignores the unique idea of justice and restoration that First Nations peoples have, making it extremely irrelevant and unhelpful for them. First Nations peoples have linguistic and cultural barriers and a lack of counsel and understanding of the criminal processes and, therefore, have misguided rulings and inaccurate proceedings. Canada has not provided the cultural training and
Many inequalities exist within the justice system that need to be brought to light and addressed. Statistics show that African American men are arrested more often than females and people of other races. There are some measures that can and need to be taken to reduce the racial disparity in the justice system.
The Board of Indian Commissioners was a committee that advised the United States federal government on Native American policy. The committee also had the purpose to inspect the supplies that were delivered to Indian reservations to ensure that the government fulfilled the treat obligations to tribes. The committee was established by congress on April 10th, 1869, and authorized the President of the United States to organize a board of ten or less people to oversee all aspect of Native American policy. President Ulysses S. Grant wanted to come up with a new policy, which would be more humane, with Native American tribes. The policy would be known as the Peace Policy, which aimed to be free of political corruption. This policy was prominent on
The Native American Reservation system was a complete failure. This paper focuses on the topics of relocation, Native American boarding schools, current conditions on today’s reservations, and what effects these have had on the Native American way of life.
Many people today know the story of the Indians that were native to this land, before “white men” came to live on this continent. Few people may know that white men pushed them to the west while many immigrants took over the east and moved westward. White men made “reservations” that were basically land that Indians were promised they could live on and run. What many Americans don’t know is what the Indians struggled though and continue to struggle through on the reservations.
Shelden, R.G., Brown, W.B., Miller, K.S., & Fritzler, R.B. (2008). Crime and criminal justice in american society. Long Grove, Illinosis: Waveland Press, INC.
According to the 2004 general society survey (GSS) aboriginal people are three times more likely than non aboriginal people to experience a violent victimization. Due to the limited comprehensive data surrounding these issues, restorative justice plays a role as the proper response and healing key preventing us from overlooking further aboriginal issues. Aboriginals have different attitudes towards the criminal justice system in comparison to non aboriginal peoples. Aboriginal people are more likely to have contact with the police for serious manners, whereas others may simply make calls for small issues. Furthermore, they have lower levels of satisfaction with the system as theres not much focus on aboriginal cases. It is unfortunate that there is an over representation within our criminal justice system. Indigenous people are highly over represented as offenders in homicide incidents. Economic and societal factors play a role in the over representation of indigenous peoples. Factors such as low education, unemployment, low income, and single parent families all contribute. A major factor however that is believed to be the strongest risk factor for offering and victimization is age. Young offenders view professionals with higher levels as authority as careless people within the criminal justice system. This also contributes to factors such as cultural