Sometimes the AUSA/state/tribal prosecutors get together and draw straws, or come to an agreement about who will run with a particular case.Originally Posted by vcdgrips
Sometimes the AUSA/state/tribal prosecutors get together and draw straws, or come to an agreement about who will run with a particular case.
"It's surprising how often you start wondering just how featureless a desert some people's inner landscapes must be."
-Maple Syrup Actual
The expanded authority under the VAWA involved domestic violence. Used to be, non-Native guy assaults his Native partner while on the Rez, Feds had sole jurisdiction. Problem was, that AUSA offices were not really set up for misdemeanor DV, and cases fell through the cracks.
"It's surprising how often you start wondering just how featureless a desert some people's inner landscapes must be."
-Maple Syrup Actual
So basically as this stands, its a major food fight about who will do what, and its clear as mud.
Here is a question to you Chuck and the other LEs Blues, TC.....
How long will this take to become clear about who is doing what now? Will this be one of those things that takes a couple of years to work itself out? Or, take where I live in NE OK, there are more tribes up here than most parts, everyone is something, will BIA just bring in more cops to police them in rural areas instead of the County Sheriff?
Way outside my lane, @Arbninftry. Wish I could offer some clarity.
There's nothing civil about this war.
In Oklahoma, at least to my understanding, many agencies are cross commissioned. Allowing for full service LE.
If this only applies to “Natives”, even that will be interesting. How much blood do you need to Native. Right now it’s not much in Oklahoma.
How long? The ink is still wet on the SCOTUS' decision. There are probably a lot of folks having a lot of meetings about the implications of this. It is my understanding that tribal land in OK has always been something of a checkerboard, so this just increases the % of the state affected. I'm guessing some expansion of tribal/BIA LE operations, but there are hiring and budgeting processes and hoops that have to be jumped. It won't be an overnight thing.
If you're not a criminal, it will probably have little effect on you. If you're a non-Native criminal, you might face Federal as well as state prosecution if you fuck up in IC. For those Natives who were convicted by the state, they might not be so happy once convicted in federal court. No such thing as parole/early release for good behavior on the Fed side.
"It's surprising how often you start wondering just how featureless a desert some people's inner landscapes must be."
-Maple Syrup Actual
Varies by tribe for tribal benefits, the Cherokees have one standard (because they have so many). Other Tribes, have a there own requirements. Some go off of Lineage. My Grandmother was full, but our tribe lost its tribal affiliation and was disbanded federally in the 70s, we got folded into another tribe for a while. We dropped under 300, but got it back in the 80s when we got our numbers back up, and now we have 3-4k members. But that is just the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma. So every tribe is different.
Many, if not all, tribes have their own LE in OK.
Yes they do, and it’s crazy sometimes with all the different tribes here. 9 tribes in one county plus the Cherokees on the south side of the Neosho River
For many years, I worked as a prosecutor in Fremont County, WY. Our county includes the Wind River Indian Reservation. The fundamental question of whether a reservation has been "diminished" turns on many factors - legal and factual. The consequences of this determination are enormous and go far beyond criminal jurisdiction. Tribes have
some civil, regulatory, and taxation powers over non-Indians in "Indian country". Think about that.
Here is a case I prosecuted in which the defendant claimed Riverton, WY to be "Indian country": https://law.justia.com/cases/wyoming...08/451186.html.
Congress would do well to sort this out as the Tribe now holds a winning hand.
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