Written by: Anua
Operation Lady Justice is a task force created by way of executive order 13898 in November 2019. The goal and purpose of this task force is the improvement of criminal justice regarding American Indians and Alaskan Natives who experience or have experienced violence. Operation Lady Justice is also known as the Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaskan Natives. The Task Force is CO Chaired by Merrick Garland and Deb Haaland. This task force conducts consultations regarding the aforementioned subjects, it develops protocols for these types of cases, it creates better ways for law enforcement to respond and share data, it also helps eliminate jurisdiction and disciplinary issues by creating a team with representatives from tribal law enforcement and the departments of Justice, and it creates and supplies public education regarding this epidemic. Another way that this Task Force helps address the issues of MMIWGP is by creating multi judiciary agreements which foster teamwork and unity among the various agencies which conduct law enforcement and justice. These agreements included state, federal, and local departments. Within its first year, the Taskforce created seven teams across the United States to investigate Cold Cases. These teams were stationed in Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana, Tennessee, New Mexico, Arizona, and Alaska. They also consulted multiple tribal leaders throughout 12 virtual meetings. These tribal leaders gave the following comments regarding MMIW: The need for a deep dive into the root causes of missing and murdered AI/AN, Improvement in interagency collaboration, Full funding for Tribal law enforcement, courts, social services, domestic violence shelters, victim services programs, domestic violence and sexual assault community organizations, and search teams, the need for publicly available data on missing persons and murder cases, Increased state and local training on Tribal issues including enforcement of Tribal court orders of protection, The need to establish a national alert system for adults similar to Amber Alert, Better federal communication with families and grassroots organizations, Tribal notification when a person goes missing, Programs to address intervention and prevention, Increased access to the Tribal Access Program (TAP) as well as increased availability for Amber, Ashanti and Silver Alerts in Indian communities. Additionally, volunteer engagement, regarding cold cases, was empowered by the task force and those community members were also supplied with workshops. Please contact OperationLadyJustice@usdoj.gov. For more information or questions and concerns.
Savanna’s Act is legislation that was submitted and passed by the Senate on December 6th 2018. It was signed into law on October 10, 2020. The bill was named after Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind who was brutally murdered, along with her child, in August 2017. The Act focuses on strengthening the Department of Justice’s approach to MMIWGP. It also helps with training and gathering data, as well as setting guidelines concerning Missing Murdered and Indigenous Women. Its focus is the huge number of cases regarding MMIW. This legislation also designates that a task force is created when a case occurs so that all enforcement agencies can be on the same page. The Department of Justice has also created training for Law enforcement to more effectively handle and care for these cases, as this has been a major problem for families in the past, which didn’t feel as though they were taken seriously. According to the congressional website, here are the purposes of Savanna’s Act:
provide training to law enforcement agencies on how to record tribal enrollment for victims in federal databases;
develop and implement a strategy to educate the public on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System;
conduct specific outreach to tribes, tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations regarding the ability to publicly enter information through the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System or other non-law enforcement sensitive portal;
develop regionally appropriate guidelines for response to cases of missing or murdered Native Americans;
provide training and technical assistance to tribes and law enforcement agencies for implementation of the developed guidelines; and
report statistics on missing or murdered Native Americans.
*Tribes may submit their own guidelines to DOJ that respond to cases of missing or murdered Native Americans.
Along with the actions mentioned above, the Act also provides grants to help obtain data related to MMIWGP as well as to assist Law enforcement in their pursuits of fulfilling the Act.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/227
The Not Invisible Act was signed into law on October 10th 2020 and was the first Congressional BIll enacted by 4 tribally enrolled congressional members. This act led to the creation of a joint commission whose purpose is to uncover violent actions on native lands and against Native Americans. The commission will make recommendations to the Secretary of Interior and Attorney general regarding violent actions on Native lands and violent actions against Native Americans.This recommendations specifically address the all subjects regarding missing and murdered indigneous peoples and trafficking on native lands, making the department of justice and the interior more efficiently address mmiwgp through legislative and administrative tactics, effectively gathering and reporting data related to mmiwgp cases, it seeks to fulfil and demonstrate staff shortages regarding law enforcement and mmiwgp, it is responsible for connecting and coordinating multiple jurisdictional law enforcement agencies in order to enact successful convictions regarding mmiwgp, and will release relevant tribal information regarding mmiwgp to tribal communties and governments.
Contact for more information:
Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs 1849 C Street, N.W. MS-4660-MIB
Washington, DC 20240
Hours
Open 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Monday–Friday.
Telephone
202-208-7163
