NCJ Number
179987
Date Published
1998
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This video uses interviews with tribal leaders and members of the Laguna Pueblo and Northern Cheyenne Nation to get their reactions to the federally sponsored Indian Country Justice Initiative, which is designed to enhance cooperation between Federal and tribal justice systems and personnel.
Abstract
The video presents the interviews with various justice and governmental officials of the two tribes as well as tribal members, including youth and crime victims who have had to deal with the justice system. In various ways and in differing contexts, all of those interviewed express dissatisfaction with and a lack of trust in the tribal and Federal law enforcement and court systems in the rendering of equal justice. An Indian youth perceives the tribal justice system to be riddled with bias and favoritism. An Indian mother whose daughter was murdered expresses the feeling of being ignored and treated with indifference by Federal investigators and case managers. Although follow-up and information on case processing was promised her by Federal investigators, the victim's mother was never contacted. Another tribal member comments that the justice system is so bad in Indian country that some are on the verge of engaging in vigilante justice. Tribal justice personnel talk of being patronized and treated with a lack of respect by Federal officials. They complain that they are not included in Federal analyses of and strategies for dealing with Indian crime and justice problems. They express the hope that the Indian Country Justice Initiative will mean a new era of cooperation between the Federal Government and tribal governments in bringing equal justice to Indian country.