Happy #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth. Everyday this month I am sharing a history lesson. #WeAreStillHere #NativeIn2019
This week is on US Federal Indian policy and today is about OLIPHANT, AKA how non-Natives can commit crimes on Native land with almost zero consequences.
This week is on US Federal Indian policy and today is about OLIPHANT, AKA how non-Natives can commit crimes on Native land with almost zero consequences.
In 1978, the SCOTUS ruled that tribes cannot prosecute non-Natives who commit crimes on their land. The case originated when a drunk man named Mark Oliphant assaulted a tribal police officer. He argued the tribe shouldn't have been able to prosecute him because he was not Indian
And he won.
Today, if you are not enrolled in a federally recognized tribe, you can walk onto any reservation and commit murder, theft, sex trafficking, rape, you can even break the speed limit, and the tribe is prohibited from doing anything about it.
Today, if you are not enrolled in a federally recognized tribe, you can walk onto any reservation and commit murder, theft, sex trafficking, rape, you can even break the speed limit, and the tribe is prohibited from doing anything about it.
While violent crime has gone down across the country in recent decades, it has skyrocketed in Indian country. Today, 4 in 5 Native women will be raped, stalked or abused in our lifetime and 1 in 3 of us are raped, stalked or abused every year.
Native women are 10 times more likely to be murdered. The overwhelming majority of perpetrators of these crimes are non-native.
While this problem originated with the Supreme Court, Congress has the power to fix it.
While this problem originated with the Supreme Court, Congress has the power to fix it.
In the 2013 Reauthorization of the VAWA, tribal jurisdiction was partially restored for crimes of domestic violence. VAWA 2019 includes the restoration of tribal jurisdiction over sexual violence and crimes that occur with domestic violence, but is held up in the Senate.
Advocates have called for an "Oliphant fix"--a full reversal of the Supreme Court's harmful decision. Several current Democratic Presidential candidates endorse this position.
