II 109th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 987 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 10, 2005 Mr. McCain (for himself and Mr. Dorgan) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs A BILL To restore safety to Indian women.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Restoring Safety to Indian Women Act.

2.

Findings

Congress finds that— (1)national studies indicate that Indian women experience domestic and sexual assaults at a far greater rate than other groups of women in the national population; (2)there is relatively little data on the rate of domestic violence perpetrated upon Indian women in Indian country or the costs associated with responding to acts of domestic violence in Indian country; (3)Indian tribes have criminal jurisdiction to prosecute Indians who commit violations of tribal law; (4)the Federal Government has jurisdiction to prosecute specific enumerated crimes that arise in Indian country under section 1153 of title 18, United States Code (commonly known as the Major Crimes Act); (5)the Major Crimes Act does not include provisions to provide Federal prosecutors the ability to prosecute domestic violence assaults unless they rise to the level of serious bodily injury or death; (6)national studies conducted by law enforcement organizations show that domestic violence disturbance calls are the most dangerous situations and pose the highest risk to responding law enforcement officers; (7)the limited arrest authority of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian tribal law enforcement agencies impacts the ability of law enforcement to properly respond to acts of domestic violence; and (8)Federal and tribal prosecutors and law enforcement services are hampered in their efforts to address domestic violence by the lack of available criminal history information for tribal ordinance offenders.

3.

Purposes

The purposes of this Act are as follows: (1)To obtain data on the rates of domestic violence perpetrated upon Indian women in Indian country. (2)To close existing gaps in Federal criminal laws to enable Federal, State, and tribal law enforcement, prosecution agencies, and courts to address incidents of domestic violence. (3)To address the public safety concerns experienced by tribal police officers that arise in responding to incidents of domestic violence. (4)To prevent the serious injury or death of Indian women subject to domestic violence.

4.

Definitions

In this Act: (1)

Attorney general

The term Attorney General means the Attorney General of the United States. (2)

Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of the Department of the Interior. (3)

Indian tribe

The term Indian Tribe has the same meaning as in section 4 of the Indian Self-determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b).

5.

Domestic violence habitual offender

Chapter 7 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

117.

Domestic assault by a habitual offender

(a)Any person who commits a domestic assault within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States or Indian country and who has a final conviction on at least two separate prior occasions in Federal, State, or Indian tribal court proceedings for offenses that would be, if subject to Federal jurisdiction— (1)any assault, sexual abuse, or serious violent felony against a spouse or intimate partner; or (2)an offense under chapter 110A, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for a term of not more than 5 years, or both, except that if substantial bodily injury results from a violation under this section, the offender shall be imprisoned for a term of not more than 10 years.(b)For purposes of this section— (1)the term domestic assault means an assault committed by a current or former spouse, parent, child, or guardian of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse, parent, child, or guardian, or by a person similarly situated to a spouse, parent, child, or guardian of the victim; (2)the term final conviction means the final judgment on a verdict of finding of guilty, a plea of guilty, or a plea of nolo contendere, but does not include a final judgment which has been expunged by pardon, reversed, set aside, or otherwise rendered void; (3)the term order of protection has the meaning given to such term by section 2265(b); (4)the term serious violent felony has the meaning given to such term by section 3559(c)(2)(F); (5)the term State has the meaning given to such term by section 3559(c)(2)G); (6)the term substantial bodily injury has the meaning given to such term by section 113(b)(1); and (7)the term sexual abuse has the meaning given to such term by section 2242.

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6.

Enhanced arrest authority

Section 4 of the Indian Law Enforcement Reform Act (25 U.S.C. 2803) is amended— (1)in paragraph (2)(A), by striking , or and inserting ; or; and (2)in paragraph (3)— (A)in subparagraph (A), by striking , or and inserting a semi-colon; (B)in subparagraph (B), by adding or at the end; and (C)by adding at the end the following: (C)(i)the offense is a misdemeanor offense of domestic violence (as defined in section 117 of title 18, United States Code); and (ii)the employee has reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed, or is committing, the offense; .

7.

Criminal records database pilot project

(a)

In general

The Attorney General shall make grants available pursuant to section 2001(b) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796gg(b)) to Indian tribes for the development of tribal criminal history databases to document final convictions of tribal domestic violence court adjudications, orders of protection, stay away orders, and such other domestic violence criminal history. (b)

Requirements

A database developed under subsection (a) shall include— (1)final convictions by a tribal court order; (2)orders of protection that are currently in effect and meet the requirements of section 2265(b) of title 18, United States Code; (3)a means to provide tribal, Federal, and State law enforcement agencies with access to the information in the database; and (4)safeguards to prevent the dissemination of the information contained therein for other than a criminal justice or law enforcement purpose.

8.

Study of domestic violence in Indian country

(a)

In general

The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary, the Director of the Indian Health Service, and Indian tribes, shall conduct a study on the incidents of domestic violence in Indian country. (b)

Contents

The study conducted under subsection (a) shall— (1)determine the extent of domestic violence in Indian country and its causes; and (2)identify obstacles to— (A)the prevention of incidents of domestic violence; (B)the appropriate response to incidents of domestic violence; (C)adequate treatment for victims of domestic violence; and (D)criminal prosecution of domestic violence offenders. (c)

Report

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall transmit to Congress a report regarding the study conducted under this section. This report shall include recommendations, including legislative recommendations, to address domestic violence in Indian country. (d)

Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this section.

9.

Conforming amendments

Section 2001(b) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796gg(b)) is amended— (1)in paragraph (10), by striking and after the semicolon; (2)in paragraph (11), by striking the period and inserting ; and; and (3)by adding at the end the following: (12)to develop tribal domestic violence criminal history databases for use by Indian tribal courts and tribal, State, and Federal law enforcement officers engaged in a law enforcement function .