A Jurisdictional Quandary: Challenges Facing Tribal Governments in Implementing the Full Faith and Credit Provisions of the Violence Against Women Acts

Abstract

Over the last twenty-five years, the Supreme Court has consistently eroded the sovereignty of Indian tribes, largely by limiting their jurisdiction over persons who are not members of the tribe. The Court's decisions have created different sets of jurisdictional rules for tribes, states, and the federal government, resulting in a complex set of rules that is difficult to master even for lawyers who work regularly in Indian law. The full faith and credit requirements of the Violence Against Women Act are a paradigmatic example of the problems stemming from these complicated rulings. The special jurisdictional rules for tribes have tripped up Congress's efforts to create a national blanket of coverage for those individuals holding protection orders. In this article, published in the Kentucky Law Journal, I explore the jurisdictional rules that apply to state and to tribes and examine the impact of those different rules on VAWA's Full Faith and Credit provisions. The article also includes a model tribal code for enforcement of foreign protection orders.

Keywords: Indian law, Native American law, VAWA, domestic violence, protection order, jurisdiction

JEL Classification: K40