Research Reports
Reflections on Traditional American Indian Ways, 1998
Threats to Tribal Sovereignty, 1998
Traditional American Indian Leadership: A Comparison with U.S. Governance, 1997
Criminal Justice System Factors and Disparities
Complex multi-sectored and multi-leveled system factors create and sustain American Indian disparities in the criminal justice system. Criminal justice contains at least four separate sectors; law enforcement, courts, juvenile justice, and corrections. Three sectors of the criminal justice system (law enforcement, courts, and corrections) at the state level are structured in pyramid fashion with an official at the top, one Attorney General, one Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court, and one Commissioner of Corrections. City and county criminal justice systems mirror this structure.
Criminal justice officials are prone to acknowledge issues that occur only in their particular sector. Thus, problem solving in the broader context of the criminal justice system isn’t likely to happen. Minnesota does not have a criminal justice coordinating authority charged with observing, reviewing, and connecting its statewide criminal justice system. When addressing racial disparities it is common to hear, “we only deal with what the other system sends us.” Ultimately, racial disparities seem to be someone else’s problem. This loose relationship of important elements of the criminal justice system does not bode well for those looking for effective ways in which to reduce racial disparities in this system.
Throughout these systems a noticeable void of services, processes, and activities that reflect the culture of American Indians exists. American Indians are born and raised, especially those in the less affluent society, to cling to and relate to their culture; this culture that is not reinforced in America’s educational systems or in the training and education of criminal justice practitioners, administrators, and policy makers.
The
Well-Being of American Indian Children in Minnesota: Economic Conditions,
1994
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Tuesday November 1, 2005