Law Article: VAWA update includes tribal jurisdiction provision

Early last month, Congress renewed and extended federal legislation known as the “Violence Against Women Act” or “VAWA.” The VAWA was originally enacted in 1994, and at that time, its objective was as clear as its name – to prevent and address domestic violence, primarily against women. The VAWA reformed how the law grapples with domestic violence. But the VAWA’s enactment has perhaps transformed how we look at domestic violence and the victims who struggle with it at home.

Under the original enactment, some Native American tribal members were previously left out in the cold following a 1978 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Oliphant v. Suquamish Tribe, 435 U.S. 191 (1978), which limited a tribe’s jurisdiction over non-Indian abusers. Native American tribes will now have greater authority to prosecute non-Indian abusers under the reenacted VAWA, based on a special jurisdictional provision to the law.