WASHINGTON (AP) — A quarter-century ago, the Justice Department had few meaningful relationships with Native American tribes. While the federal government worked with state and local police and courts, tribal justice systems did not have the same level of recognition, said Tracy Toulou, who oversaw the department’s Office of Tribal Justice from 2000 until his recent retirement. “They were essentially invisible,” he said. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Toulou built the office from an idea into an “institution within the Justice Department.” Its relationships with the nation’s 574 federally recognized tribes are important, in part because federal authorities investigate and prosecute a set of major crimes on most reservations. Public safety statistics reflect the serious challenges. Native Americans and Alaska Natives are more than twice as likely to be victims of a violent crime, and Native American women are at least two times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted compared with others. |
US advances review of Nevada lithium mine amid concerns over endangered wildflowerSuspected 'dineA legal challenge over the UK's role in arms sales to Israel will go aheadAthens skies turn an orange hue with dust clouds from North AfricaFormer MIT researcher who killed Yale graduate student sentenced to 35 years in prisonSpain approves plan to compensate victims of Catholic Church sex abuse. Church will be asked to payWoman charged with murder in crash that killed young brother and sister at birthday partyChicago woman convicted of killing, dismembering landlord, hiding some remains in freezerRemains believed to be missing woman, daughter found at West Virginia home on same day suspect diedHurricanes rely on veteran composure in the big rally for a 2