Idaho Bill Addresses Lawlessness that Allows Rape of Native American Women

Native American women are twice as likely to be raped as the general population of the United States, and a lot of this has to do with the "lawless" nature of tribal lands.

No, I'm not talking about a lack of a criminal justice system by tribal officials for American Indians. The big problem is non-Natives on the reservation, who aren't subject to tribal law, no matter how long they've lived there or what their crime is. This means that American Indians have to rely on United States law enforcement to go after criminals on their land, which sometimes means that nothing gets done at all, creating a situation that attract criminals who see Indian lands as "a lawless community, where they can do whatever they want," according to Chickasaw Tribal Police Chief Jason O’Neal. Due to this, 41% of Native rape victims are assaulted by strangers rather than people they know, compared to only 17% of women nationwide.

Now, I think this situation is, oh, completely ridiculous. Of 10,000 people on an Idaho reservation, over 8,000 are not subject to the jurisdiction of tribal laws. I don't understand this at all -- if you went to a foreign country, you'd be subject to their laws, but not here? Even better, my friend Nathan Empsall blogs on MyDD that the county sheriff, Bob Kirts, has decided he just doesn't feel like enforcing the law on the Indian reservation any more, essentially issuing a big "come hither!" to rapists, robbers, and other criminals.

To remedy this dangerous situation, a new bill in the Idaho legislature proposed by the Coeur d'Alene Tribe would give tribal officials the ability to actually enforce state law if the county law enforcement just can't be bothered. The tribe would be required to give notice that it wanted to enter into a cooperative law enforcement agreement -- which is how jurisdiction has been worked out before, until Sheriff Kirts declared he would stop answering requests for help from the reservation. If an agreement isn't reached, Native American police certified by the Idaho police academy could start making sure the long arm of the law reaches the non-Native criminals on their land.

While this would be a temporary fix for one state, it's not a permanent solution. Sheriff Kirts' action is not an isolated occurrence -- whether driven by racism, lack of resources, or ego over turf wars, many county sheriffs back away from helping Native American reservations enforce the law. You know, the law they're otherwise completely powerless to enforce, because of U.S. policies.

We need federal legislation that would give tribes the ability to actually enforce the law on their own lands, just like any city police department, and a commitment by U.S. law enforcement to protecting women on tribal lands. As Ruth Fertig wrote previously, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that there would be reforms, and U.S. Attorney's offices would "work closely with law enforcement to pay particular attention to violence against women in Indian Country and make these crimes a priority." I'd like to believe those are more than empty words.

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