ILOC News
United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc. Welcome the ILOC
On Thursday, July 12, United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc. welcomed the Indian Law and Order Commission members. The Commission met at the USET offices in Nashville, TN, to have a Listening Session open to USET member Tribes as well as have a Business Session in which they discussed many current event happenings and important industry affairs.
Throughout the meeting many important issues were discussed and ideas were conceived. One of which came from Commissioners Gede and Keel concerning a Senate Hearing on the Settlement Acts which would bring attention to the issues and be the building blocks of change. Additional dialogue centered around Commissioner Goldberg's insight and knowledge of the Settlement Acts. Her review focused on what Tribes in the east deal with and how states use the Acts to their advantage when dealing with Tribal nations. Most pointedly, she called to the group's attention how too few people outside of the states where the Acts are in place understand how oppressive these accords really are.
Friday, July 13th was spent conducting the 10th public hearing at the Nashville airport Marriott wherein identified witnesses testified before the Commission. The topic areas that witnesses testify on are those areas that the TLOA pre-identified, or have been raised by the Tribes throughout this process. Some of the major issues are:
- Jurisdiction
- Tribal jails and detention facilities
- Domestic Violence/Sexual Abuse in Indian Country
- Juvenile Justice Issues
- Juvenile Justice Centers
- Rehabilitation and alternatives to detention/reentry
- Federal prison system (juvenile and adult)
- Indian Civil Rights Act
- P.L. 280
- Increased sentencing authority of Tribal courts
If there are issues of concern that your Tribe would like to present testimony on, contact us and we will use our best efforts to ensure that the Commission hears from you or your designee. The Commission invites anyone that would like to share their views on Indian Country issues to submit written testimony via e-mail to staff, and/or by submittal to the Commission through the website.
If there are issues of concern that Tribes would like to present testimony on during the public hearings, please contact Jeff Davis, Executive Director via e-mail, jeff.davis6@usdoj.gov; or telephone (w) 616.456.2404 or (c) 616.901.7684.
The Indian Law and Order Commission was created pursuant to the Tribal Law and Order Act.
