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A legislative committee listened to startling national statistics about violence against Native women and heard in graphic detail about brutal assaults in Maine, as it considered a bill to extend jurisdiction over such crimes to tribal courts. However, because of questions raised concerning whether the Maine tribes are facing the same issues as tribes throughout the nation, the Judiciary Committee voted on May 19 to carry the bill over to the next legislative session so that more information can be obtained.
LD 268 would transfer jurisdiction from the state to the Passamaquoddy Tribe and Penobscot Nation over domestic violence crimes by non-Natives on tribal lands in accordance with the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which was reauthorized in 2013, and the federal Law and Order Act of 2010.
In his testimony at the May 12 hearing, Penobscot Chief Kirk Francis stated that the bill would resolve any concerns that had been raised by Maine officials about the applicability of VAWA in the state. He also outlined that, according to national statistics, 34% of Native women will be raped during their lifetime and 86% of the rapes will be committed by non-Native offenders. Also, Native women are 10 times more likely than average to be murdered, largely from escalating domestic violence. Reservations have been targets for serial abusers nationwide, and a lack of accountability for the crimes committed has led to "a complete lack of faith in the justice system." He said the adoption of VAWA is "vital to the health and safety of our communities." Currently, tribal law enforcement cannot prosecute crimes committed on tribal lands by non-Natives. The bill would provide recognition of the authority of tribal governments to deal with offenders on tribal lands and would help the tribes deal with domestic violence.
In his testimony, Penobscot Rep. Wayne Mitchell, the bill's sponsor, noted that the federal government is permitting tribal courts around the nation to adjudicate cases in which crimes against Native women occur on tribal lands. However, while the Maine tribes have argued that they have concurrent jurisdiction with the state over domestic abuse cases, the Maine attorney general's office has objected and "whittled away" at the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act, he said. Rep. Mitchell felt that the AG's office "protesteth too much" in arguing against the tribal courts having concurrent jurisdiction with the state.
Rep. Mitchell recalled an unsolved case in which a Penobscot woman had been brutally raped, beaten then strangled and had a beer bottle shoved into her vagina. Her body was found that way with a sign that read, "Indian pig, stay on the reservation." He said that neither the local non-tribal police nor state "did anything to bring justice to the honor of this woman except to say we shouldn't leave our reservation at night."
Patricia Graffam, a Passamaquoddy who is a domestic violence advocate with the Penobscot Nation and an adult child of a domestic abuse survivor, noted that last year 83% of the domestic abuse incidents against Penobscot women on Indian Island were committed by non-Natives. She said that because the crimes were committed on a reservation, some non-Natives were able to slip through the legal system with unclear jurisdictions and were not prosecuted. She related the November 1965 incident in which five non-Native hunters had come onto the Pleasant Point reservation looking for women and killed Peter Francis and severely beat her grandfather, Christy Altvater, who later killed himself. None of the hunters were ever held accountable. She said the case "strengthened society's misogynistic view of Native lives." The proposed bill would "provide for accountability for offenders," she stated. "We don't want special rights, we want what is right."
Noting that Native women are exposed to violence at a greater rate than any other ethnicity in the U.S., Tonia Dana of the Penobscot Domestic and Sexual Violence Advocacy Center said that it is important to send a clear signal that tribal authority over domestic violence will hold perpetrators accountable. Last year the Penobscot center provided direct service support to 35 women.
Attorney Sherri Mitchell, who is a member of the Penobscot Nation, noted that after a Penobscot woman was killed by a non-Native on tribal lands, the tribal government adopted a law requiring that any non-Natives must obtain the permission of the tribal government to live in the tribal community and agree to abide by the rules of the community. She related that university students used to "grab" and abuse Native women, which led to two tribal men standing at the bridge to Indian Island and asking anyone crossing the bridge to state their reason for coming onto the reservation. She noted that Native Americans are the only race in which most of the perpetrators of domestic violence are non-Natives. She said the bill "is not about control, it's about protection."
Lois Reckitt of the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence pointed out that the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy courts are the only tribal courts in the nation that are unable to try non-Natives under VAWA, which she said is "morally wrong." Others who testified, including Nancy Soctomah, director of Passamaquoddy Peaceful Relations at Pleasant Point, asked that the bill be amended so that all the Wabanaki tribes in Maine would have concurrent jurisdiction over domestic violence crimes.
Eric Mahnert, the chief judge of the Penobscot Nation Tribal Court, noted that he has traveled across the U.S. to see if tribal courts meet due process provisions under VAWA and that the Penobscot tribal court is "the best prepared" to do so. He pointed out that the Maine Implementing Act for the 1980 settlement act says that the state and tribes have concurrent jurisdiction over domestic violence cases and that VAWA would not be preempting state law.
All of those who spoke at the hearing favored the bill, but Maine Attorney General Janet Mills submitted a letter raising questions about the legislation. At the May 19 work session, a member of the committee, Senator Chris Johnson of Somerville, noted that the statistics are startling, yet Mills' letter to the committee suggests that these cases are being dealt with. At the work session, Mills said while she is aware that there are problems nationally with how domestic violence cases on tribal lands are prosecuted, she is not aware of a problem in Maine. She said that tribal courts do not share their statistics with the state, so "I can't say what their statistics are." She said the Maine tribes have "full access" to the state court system and tribal law enforcement officers have authority to bring offenders to state or tribal court. Mills said granting tribal courts jurisdiction over possible felony matters "is a huge issue" for the state to consider.
However, Passamaquoddy Rep. Matthew Dana, who is a tribal law enforcement officer, said in response to questions from the committee that non-tribal members who commit violence against tribal women are often offered lesser crimes to plead guilty to in state courts.
Committee members felt that they needed to obtain more information about whether there are issues in Maine concerning enforcement of domestic violence incidents against Native women. The committee then voted unanimously to carry the bill over to the next session. |
