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The New Face of Justice: Joint Tribal‐State Jurisdiction
Author(s) -
Wahwassuck Judge Korey
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
juvenile and family court journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.155
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1755-6988
pISSN - 0161-7109
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-6988.2009.01020.x
Subject(s) - economic justice , law , jurisdiction , citation , state (computer science) , permission , face (sociological concept) , fair use , sociology , political science , computer science , social science , algorithm
Incidents of drug and alcohol abuse, gang activities, violence of all kinds, truancy, unsupervised juveniles, and dysfunctional families continue to escalate and head the list of problems faced by all governments, tribal and state. In Northern Minnesota, the situation is no different, but local tribal and state judicial systems have teamed up to address these issues in an innovative way. In 2006, the first joint tribal-state court in the nation was created. Made possible by a Joint Powers Agreement between the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Tribal Court and the Cass County District Court, the two jurisdictions can now work collaboratively and creatively toward better outcomes for those involved in the adult and juvenile justice systems. Following the lead of the Leech Lake and Cass County courts, joint tribal-state jurisdiction is quickly catching on. This article gives an overview of tribal court development, discusses how this unique system of joint jurisdiction evolved in Northern Minnesota, and provides practical suggestions for cooperation in other jurisdictions.