Native Americans and the Criminal Justice System

Jeffrey Ian Ross is an Associate Professor, Division of Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Social Policy, and a Fellow of the Center for International and Comparative Law, University of Baltimore. Larry Gould is a Full Professor of Criminal Justice and Associate Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Northern Arizona University.

“This book provides invaluable insight and data, not only with regard to one of the least considered facets of the judicial and penal systems, but a little- discussed dimension of the U.S. relationship with Anerican Indians. Sure to become a standard reference in the years ahead, Native Americans and the Criminal Justice System is important reading for anyone, scholars and laypersons alike, concerned with the (dis)function of law in our society.” —Ward Churchill, author of Perversions of Justice: Indigenous Peoples and Anglo-American Law “This collection presents significant summaries of past criminal behavior, and significant new cultural and political contextualizations that provide greater understanding of the complex effects of crime, sovereignty, culture, and colonization on crime and criminalization on Indian reservations.” —Duane Champagne, UCLA (From the Foreword) “This interdisciplinary text should be required reading for anyone interested in justice and Native peoples in the United States. By including perspectives from a wide variety of disciplines, Native Americans and the Criminal Justice System provides a comprehensive introduction to issues of criminal justice and tribal sovereignty. Readers will come away with an appreciation for the historical, cultural, and legal issues facing practitioners and policymakers both inside and outside Indian country.” —Sarah Deer (Muscogee), Staff Attorney, Tribal Law and Policy Institute Co-author, Introduction to Tribal Legal Studies and Tribal Criminal Law and Procedure “High crime rates in 'Indian country' has long been recognized having a distinct form, sometimes similar, but often different from the crime problem in the rest of the United States. Finally, a collection of essays that broadly addresses crime in Indian America. Focusing on the major issues, and pulling no punches. These essays are powerfully analytical, well written, and ask the right questions.” —Sidney Harring, CUNY School of Law

• I: Introduction; 1: Native Americans, Criminal Justice, Criminological Theory, and Policy Development; II: Theoretical Issues in the Area of Native Americans and Criminal Justice; 2: Navajo Criminal Justice: A Jungian Perspective; 3: Criminalizing Culture; 4: Justice as Phoenix; 5: The Link between Environmental Policy and the Colonization Process and Its Effects on American Indian Involvement in Crime, Law, and Society; III: Current Policy Issues Affecting Native Americans and Criminal Justice; 6: Alcoholism, Colonialism, and Crime; 7: Examining the Interpretation and Application of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978; 8: Law Enforcement and the American Indian; 9: Policing Native Americans Off the Rez; 10: Imprisonment and American Indian Medicine Ways; 11: Criminalization of the Treaty Right to Fish; 12: Indian Gaming and the American Indian Criminal Justice System; 13: Research on Juvenile Delinquency in Indian Communities; 14: Recent Trends in Community-Based Strategies for Dealing with Juvenile Crime in the Navajo Nation; 15: Scattered Like the Reindeer; IV: Conclusion; 16: Integrating the Past, Present, and Future