Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2008
Abstract
This article critiques Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act [SORNA] and places it in the context of the broader scheme of public safety and criminal jurisdiction on Indian reservations. Part I briefly explains the jurisdictional background of criminal law and regulatory authority on Indian lands. Part II discusses the particular development of federal and tribal sex offender registration and notification laws. Part III explains how SORNA engages Indian tribes and other registration jurisdictions as a prelude to discussion of the obstacles of effective implementation on Indian lands. Part IV offers some criticisms of SORNA for further fragmenting regulatory and criminal jurisdictional authority on Indian lands, destabilizing existing law enforcement arrangements, and ignoring recent federal standards of good government in the federal Indian policy arena. Part V explains some of the other practical problems that may arise under this hastily enacted law. The conclusion urges Congress to reconsider SORNA and to adopt a more deliberative approach to these very serious issues.
Publication Title
Ohio State Journal Criminal Law
Volume
6
First Page
3
Last Page
24
Recommended Citation
Kevin Washburn & Virginia Davis,
Sex Offender Registration in Indian Country,
6
Ohio State Journal Criminal Law
3
(2008).
Available at:
https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facultyscholarship/506
