State Of The Tribal Courts: A Statistical View
By a Biometrica staffer
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) published what it called the first complete enumeration of tribal court systems operating in the United States. Termed the National Survey of Tribal Court Systems (NSTCS), it consists of three surveys specific to tribal court systems in the lower 48 states, Alaska Native villages, and the Code of Federal Regulations Courts (CFR Courts) operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
Why is the report important? One of the key aspects of sovereignty is to “to establish a judicial system and administer justice.” And each of the three types of sovereign entities in the United States (the federal government, the states, and the Indian tribes) has its own judicial system, and plays a role in the administration of justice, and in maintaining public safety. In this piece, we present key highlights of the report in a series of graphics.
