Reservations about federal law on reservations

The Wall Street Journal has this interesting front-page article entitled, “On Tribal Land, Tragic Arson Leads to a Life Sentence Justice Can Be Unequal In Reservation Crimes; Prayers at Sweat Lodge.”  Here are excerpts:

Indian tribes once had control over the dispensation of justice on reservations. But federal laws — some passed a century apart — have whittled away that authority, and, critics say, helped create a legal system that’s often separate and unequal….

Because the tribes don’t have jurisdiction for serious crimes committed on their lands, outcomes of cases can be uneven.  In some cases, the federal government doesn’t have the resources to prosecute such crimes, allowing criminals to slip through gaps. But Native Americans who do end up being prosecuted face a federal system that has become tougher in recent years.

Since the 1980s, Congress has been toughening federal penalties by adding mandatory minimum sentences — which are often more severe than those handed out by states. Coupled with that was the abolishment of parole in the federal system. As a result, American Indians, especially the million or so living on tribal land, can face harsher punishments than non-Indians for what are effectively local crimes, say tribal officials and legal experts.