The House on Thursday voted to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act with an amendment from Rep. Don Young that would give special criminal jurisdiction to five Alaska tribal governments.
The Alaska Republican’s measure would create a pilot program giving tribes in five villages law enforcement authority over crimes addressed in the act, including sexual assault and rape. The authority would apply to anyone within the boundaries of the village.
Supporters called it a unique approach to combat high rates of violence in villages that have little to no local law enforcement, at a time when Gov. Mike Dunleavy has proposed removing $3 million from Village Public Safety Officer funds as part of his budget cuts, though overall public-safety spending would increase.
April Ferguson, general counsel with Bristol Bay Native Corp., said the Alaska Native regional corporation supported Young’s amendment.
“This is unexpected and innovative,” Ferguson said. “We need to do whatever we can to give resources to local communities to combat violence against women.”
The House passed the updated act on a 263-158 vote, moving it to the Senate. Young was one of only 33 Republicans to vote for it.
“Alaska often ranks first as the state with the highest rates of women killed by men, and Alaska Native women are 10 times more likely to experience domestic violence than other women in the United States," Young said in a statement Thursday. “Congress has a duty keep the promises made under VAWA, and I felt it was important to reauthorize critical programs that benefit women and survivors of violence.”
[Rep. Don Young apologizes after shoving a reporter out of his way]
The governor’s office on Friday was unable to provide Dunleavy’s position on the amendment.
“The governor’s office has not reviewed the amendment or the underlying legislation at this time,” said Matt Shuckerow, a spokesperson.
Young’s amendment won unanimous approval Wednesday. In a speech presenting his measure to the House, Young said most Native villages are not connected by roads and lack local law enforcement, making it difficult to stop violence and prosecute offenders.
“It can take days for authorities to fly to a village and respond to an incident, particularly when weather conditions are bad,” he said.
In addition to Bristol Bay Native Corp., Young said his amendment was supported by the Alaska Federation of Natives, the state’s largest Native organization, as well as the Tanana Chiefs Conference, representing 37 tribal governments in Interior Alaska. The National Congress of American Indians also supports it.
The law does not spell out which five of Alaska’s 200-plus tribes would benefit. The special law enforcement authority would cover “all lands” within the five Alaska Native villages. It calls those lands “Indian country," a term usually describing reservations in the Lower 48. Alaska has just one reservation, in Metlakatla in Southeast Alaska.
An opponent of the idea, attorney Don Mitchell said it will set a precedent that could lead to an expansion of tribal jurisdiction in more than 200 villages in Alaska, eventually trumping the civil authority of the state.
“State clean water statutes, state clean air statutes, all kinds of stuff you and I take for granted under state law that are civil in nature (would not) exist in these doughnut holes,” said Mitchell, who is the author of a two-book history of Alaska Native legal status.
An April 2 letter to Young from Bristol Bay Native Corp. chief executive Jason Metrokin said the amendment would help the five tribes fight problems including domestic violence, sex trafficking and stalking.
Metrokin said domestic violence in Alaska is at “epidemic levels." He said he’d like to see the bill revised so it adds five tribes yearly, not just in total.
Lloyd Miller, an Anchorage lawyer who represents tribes, said the idea brings a badly needed new approach to fighting domestic violence in rural communities.
He said it will give the five tribes limited authority that will supplement but not supersede the authority of state troopers or federal investigators.
Grant opportunities provided in the act could help pay for the program, supporting villages that don’t have effective law enforcement.
“To empower the villages to protect their own communities is such a sensible, logical thing to do,” Miller said.
“People should welcome this and not be apprehensive about it," he said. “Something has to be done to curb domestic violence. It’s not a good situation to have a no-man’s land” when the problem is so dire.