Criminal Justice Support for American Indians: Select Considerations

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has reported from the last available data that the crime rates experienced by American Indians nation-wide are two a half times higher than those experienced by the general population in the United States. The Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 recognises that Indian tribes have faced significant increases of burglary, assault, child abuse, and domestic violence as a direct result of increased methamphetamine use on Indian reservations. Further, it is estimated that 39 percent of American Indian and Alaskan Native women will be subjected to domestic violence during their lifetime. Such crime levels have a devastating effect on the quality of life for tribal communities and signal a public safety crisis in Indian country. This book reviews the challenges facing select tribal justice systems in adjudicating crime in Indian country as well as federal agencies’ efforts to co-ordinate their activities to support tribal justice systems.