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
American Indians in the Criminal Justice System
Numerous studies indicate that disparities exist between American Indians and whites in arrest, sentencing, and incarceration rates. An analysis of traffic stop data conducted by the Institute on Race and Poverty reveals some not so surprising results. It found that American Indians were stopped and searched at higher rates than whites, yet as a result of these searches this study found that American Indians are less likely to have contraband as compared to White drivers. Minnesota Planning, the State Demographic Center, also confirms that arrest rates vary by race and ethnicity as well as several other demographic factors. The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota notes that while American Indians represent only a small percentage of the total population, some counties have extremely high arrest rates for American Indians. This report indicates that in one county, while American Indians make up only 11.5% of the population, they account for over 50% of the arrest rates.
Figures 1 and 2 show adult and juvenile apprehensions between 1996 and 2000. Since 1996, Juvenile apprehensions for Part I “major crimes” and Part II “lesser crimes” declined slightly. Apprehensions for juvenile status offenders increased during this same time period. Juvenile status offenses (curfew, loitering, school truancies, and runaways) also increased during this same period. In 2000, American Indian juvenile apprehensions were highest for larceny motor vehicle theft for Part I offenses (435). Part II offenses were highest for liquor laws (427), disorderly conduct (190), and other offenses. For status offenses curfew and loitering were highest (504).
Among adults, Part I apprehensions have increased during this period while the number of arrests for Part II offenses have declined. In 2000, the most common reasons for apprehension
of American Indian adults were larceny (503) and aggravated assault (292). The most common causes for apprehensions for Part II offenses were driving under the influence (1,186), liquor laws (976), and other offenses (2,094).
Data indicate that in 2003, 14,492 felony offenders were sentenced. This is a dramatic increase from previous reports. American Indians represent 6.2% of felony offenders sentenced. The overall imprisonment rate in 2003 was 24.4%, the highest imprisonment rate since the sentencing guidelines were enacted. Populations of Color, including American Indians, have higher imprisonment rates than Whites. 24.6% of American Indians received sentences to state prison as compared to 22.0% of Whites. A slightly lower percent of American Indians (67.3%) received incarceration in a local jail as compared to 67.5% of Whites. Dispositional departure rates also indicate some differences. Compared to Whites, American Indian cases were more often aggravated dispositional departures: when guidelines recommend a stayed sentence, judges choose a prison sentence. American Indians also had a lower mitigated departure rate: when guidelines recommend prison and judges impose intermediate sanctions.
Incarceration rates since 1985 indicate a gradual increase in the number of American Indian adults in correctional facilities. The number of American Indian juveniles in correctional facilities has remained steady during these same years. Data for the most recent years indicate that American Indians represent 15.7 % of the all juveniles committed to the Minnesota Correctional Facility at Red Wing. This is noteworthy because the Minnesota Community Corrections Act promotes use of local facilities; only those deemed most difficult to manage are sent to the state facility at Red Wing. Moreover, as mentioned previously, American Indians represent less than one percent of the total population in Minnesota. Red Wing, the only remaining state juvenile facility, is widely known to admit offenders only when all other options for treatment have been exhausted. American Indian youth show up in high numbers at juvenile institutions such as the Northwest Juvenile Center at Bemidji, Arrowhead Juvenile Center in Duluth, the Hennepin County Home School, and other juvenile residential facilities or privately owned treatment facilities.
This data presents a multitude of potential causes for overrepresentation of American Indian juveniles and adults in the criminal justice system. Factors that may contribute to disparities include variables rooted in the individual, social environment, and institutional systems. An individual’s involvement in the criminal justice system may be the result of life events including people in their life. These precipitating factors include families that may be dysfunctional, education environment difficulties, as well as social workers, police, probation officers, judges, and attorneys who are poorly trained or not culturally competent to work with Indians. It is unfortunate, indeed, that numerous social, historical and cultural factors that are contained in the American Indian experience remain an unknown to the criminal justice professional; these include the effects of abject poverty, historic trauma, racism, mental health issues, long-term effects of institutional colonialism, and the critical importance and influence of culture in their lives.
www. Crimeandjustice.org, Profiling Study, Summary of Findings
Part I offenses include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Part II offenses include other assaults; forgery and counterfeiting, fraud, embezzlement, buying, receiving or possessing stolen property; vandalism or destruction of property; violating weapons laws, prostitution and commercialized vice, sex offenses, narcotics offenses, liquor law violations, gambling violations, offenses against family and children, driving under the influence, disorderly conduct, vagrancy, and all other offenses (all offenses other than Part I crimes, juvenile offenses and traffic violations). Race and Ethnicity of Juveniles in Minnesota’s Justice System, 2001, St. Paul, MN
Sentencing Guidelines Commission Sentencing practices, Annual summary Statistics for Felony Offenders
Sentenced in 2003, December 2004, St. Paul, MN
The
Well-Being of American Indian Children in Minnesota: Economic Conditions,
1994
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Tuesday November 1, 2005