[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 79 (Tuesday, April 24, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24517-24518]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-9731]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
[Docket No. OTJ 100]
Solicitation of Comments on Request for United States Assumption
of Concurrent Federal Criminal Jurisdiction; Hoopa Valley Tribe
AGENCY: Office of Tribal Justice, Department of Justice.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice solicits public comments on the Request for United
States Assumption of Concurrent Federal Criminal Jurisdiction recently
submitted to the Office of Tribal Justice, Department of Justice by the
Hoopa Valley Tribe pursuant to the provisions of 28 CFR 50.25.
DATES: Written comments must be postmarked and electronic comments must
be submitted on or before . Comments received by mail will be
considered timely if they are postmarked on or before that date. The
electronic Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) will accept comments
until Midnight Eastern Time at the end of that day.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Mail or Hand Delivery/Courier: submit written comments via
regular or express mail to Mr. Tracy Toulou, Director, Office of Tribal
Justice, Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Room 2310,
Washington, DC 20530.
Fax: submit comments to the attention of Mr. Tracy Toulou,
Office of Tribal Justice, Department of Justice, (202) 514-9078 (not a
toll-free number).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please contact Mr. Tracy Toulou,
Director, Office of Tribal Justice, Department of Justice, at (202)
514-8812 (not a toll-free number). To ensure proper handling of
comments, please reference ``Docket No. OTJ 100'' on all electronic and
written correspondence. The Department encourages all comments be
submitted electronically through http://www.regulations.gov using the
electronic comment form provided on that site. An electronic copy of
the request for United States assumption of concurrent federal criminal
jurisdiction submitted by the Hoopa Valley Tribe is also available at
the http://www.regulations.gov Web site for easy reference. Paper
comments that duplicate the electronic submission are not necessary as
all comments submitted to http://www.regulations.gov will be posted for
public review and are part of the official docket record.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Posting of Public Comments. Please note that all comments received
are considered part of the public record and made available for public
inspection online at http://www.regulations.gov. Such information
includes personal identifying information (such as your name and
address) voluntarily submitted by the commenter.
You are not required to submit personal identifying information in
order to comment on this rule. Nevertheless, if you want to submit
personal identifying information (such as your name and address) as
part of your comment, but do not want it to be posted online, you must
include the phrase ``PERSONAL IDENTIFYING INFORMATION'' in the first
paragraph of your comment. You also must locate all the personal
identifying information you do not want posted online in the first
paragraph of your comment and identify what information you want
redacted.
If you want to submit confidential business information as part of
your comment but do not want it to be posted online, you must include
the phrase ``CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION'' in the first paragraph
of your comment. You also must prominently identify confidential
business information to be redacted within the comment. If a comment
has so much confidential business information that it cannot be
effectively redacted, all or part of that comment may not be posted on
http://www.regulations.gov.
Personal identifying information and confidential business
information identified and located as set forth above will be placed in
the agency's public docket file, but not posted online. If you wish to
inspect the agency's public docket file in person by appointment,
[[Page 24518]]
please see the paragraph above entitled FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT.
Statutory Background
For more than two centuries, the Federal Government has recognized
Indian tribes as domestic sovereigns that have unique government-to-
government relationships with the United States. Congress has broad
authority to legislate with respect to Indian tribes, however, and has
exercised this authority to establish a complex jurisdictional scheme
for the prosecution of crimes committed in Indian country. (The term
``Indian country'' is defined in 18 U.S.C. 1151.) Criminal jurisdiction
in Indian country typically depends on several factors, including the
nature of the crime; whether the alleged offender, the victim, or both
are Indian; and whether a treaty, Federal statute, executive order, or
judicial decision has conferred jurisdiction on a particular
government.
The Tribal Law and Order Act (TLOA) was enacted on July 29, 2010,
as Title II of Public Law 111-211. The purpose of the TLOA is to help
the Federal Government and tribal governments better address the unique
public-safety challenges that confront tribal communities. Section
221(b) of the new law, now codified at 18 U.S.C. 1162(d), permits an
Indian tribe with Indian country subject to State criminal jurisdiction
under Public Law 280, P.L. 83-280, 67 Stat. 588 (1953) to request that
the United States accept concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute
violations of the General Crimes Act and the Major Crimes Act within
that tribe's Indian country.
Department of Justice Regulation Implementing 18 U.S.C. 1162(d)
On December 6, 2011, 76 FR 76037 the Department published final
regulations that established the framework and procedures for a
mandatory Public Law 280 tribe to request the assumption of concurrent
Federal criminal jurisdiction within the Indian country of the tribe
that is subject to Public Law 280. 28 CFR 50.25. Among other
provisions, the regulations provide that upon receipt of a tribal
request the Office of Tribal Justice shall publish a notice in the
Federal Register seeking comments from the general public.
Request by the Hoopa Valley Tribe
By a request dated January 17, 2012, the Hoopa Valley Tribe located
in the State of California requested the United States to assume
concurrent Federal jurisdiction to prosecute violations of 18 U.S.C.
1152 (the General Crimes, or Indian Country Crimes, Act) and 18 U.S.C.
1153 (the Major Crimes Act) within the Indian country of the tribe.
This would allow the United States to assume concurrent criminal
jurisdiction over offenses within the Indian country of the tribe
without eliminating or affecting the State's existing criminal
jurisdiction.
Solicitation of Comments
This notice solicits public comments on the above request.
Dated: April 17, 2012.
Tracy Toulou,
Director, Office of Tribal Justice.
[FR Doc. 2012-9731 Filed 4-23-12; 8:45 am]
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