NATIONAL AMERICAN
INDIAN COURT JUDGES
ASSOCIATION
Emerging Practices in Civil Legal Assistance
and Criminal Indigent Defense
January 13, 2015
2:00 – 3:30 p.m. (MST)
Thank you for joining the webinar
This webinar series is supported by Grant No. 2011-AL-BX-K002 awarded by
the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of
Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also
includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of
Crime, and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending,
Registering, and Tracking. Under this award, points of view or opinions in
webinars, documents, or publications are those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of
Justice.


All attendees have been muted.
This webinar is being audio cast via the speakers on your
computer. If you want to join by phone, dial the call-in
number listed:
 On your registration email; or
 In the “Event Info” tab on the top left hand of your screen

If you would like to ask a question
please use the “Q & A” or “Chat”
features found on the right side of your
screen.

The webcast and slides from this
webinar will be emailed to all attendees
shortly after the session.
Moderators
Nikki Borchardt Campbell, Program Administrator
National American Indian Court Judges Association
Francine Jaramillo, Staff Attorney
American Indian Law Center, Inc.
Presenters
Alex Sierck, Project Director
Center for Holistic Defense, Bronx Defenders
Ann Sherwood, Attorney
Defenders Office of the Confederated Salish and
Kootenai Tribes
The National American Indian
Court Judges Association
• TTA Provider under the Tribal Civil and Criminal Legal
Assistance Program
• Planning and Coordination Meeting in 2012
• Emerging Practices webinar series
The Need for Indigent Defense in
Tribal Communities

Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 (ICRA)
 Tribal governments cannot enact or enforce laws that violate
certain individual rights.
 Defendants rights, include:
○ freedom from punishment greater than imprisonment for one year
and a fine of $5,000 or both; and
○ the right to be assisted by a lawyer in all criminal cases, at one’s
own expense.

Tribal Law & Order Act of 2010 (TLOA)
 Tribal Courts may exercise enhanced sentencing authority.
 Protections for accused where Defendant subject to 1 year or
more imprisonment, include:
○ licensed counsel for indigent defendants;
○ licensed/law trained judges;
○ tribal criminal laws, rules of evidence, and rules of criminal
procedure must be published; and
○ proceeding must be recorded.

Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 –
Title IX: Safety for Indian Women
 Authorizes tribes to criminally prosecute non-Indians for the crimes
of domestic violence, dating violence, and the violation of protection
orders.
 Tribes must provide defendants certain enumerated due process
protections, including:
○ most of the protections required in TLOA;
○ a fair cross-section of the community in jury pool and not
systematically exclude non-Indians; and
○ inform defendants ordered detained by a tribal court of their right
to file federal habeas corpus petitions.
Growing demands and limited
resources
Indigent providers are underfunded and
understaffed.
 Increased caseloads.
 Insufficient resources.
 Defendants lack proper guidance about
their rights, charges, potential sentences
and collateral consequences.

Criminal Defense • Civil Action • Family Defense
Policy & Community Development • Social Work
A Broader Understanding
Of What it Means to be a Lawyer
THE 4 PILLARS OF HOLISTIC DEFENSE
Seamless access to services that meet clients’
legal and social needs
 Dynamic, interdisciplinary communication
 Advocates with interdisciplinary skill set
 Robust understanding of and connection to,
the community served

TEAM BASED MODEL
Criminal
Defense Practice
Family Defense
Practice
Team
Social Work
Civil Action
Practice
TEAM BASED REFERRAL SYSTEM
Civil Action
Practice
Family Defense
Practice
Investigation
Criminal
Defense
Attorney
Social Work
Grant awarded to The Bronx Defenders by
The Department of Justice – Bureau of Justice
Affairs

Purpose: To provide Technical Assistance to Public
Defender Offices around the country who are
striving to be more holistic in their representation
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Site Visits



To The Bronx Defenders
To the recipient’s office
Creation of a 12-month plan
Focus on one aspect of Holistic Defense to develop
 Creation of a Needs Assessment Instrument
 Collection of Data


Ongoing Advice & Assistance
Criminal Defense • Civil Action • Family Defense
Policy & Community Development • Social Work
860 Courtlandt Avenue • Bronx, New York 10451 • (718) 838-7878
www.bronxdefenders.org
Use of Existing Resources to
Provide Holistic Defense: CSKT
Defenders
ANN SHERWOOD
MANAGING ATTORNEY
DESIREE FOX
CASE MANAGER, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY
TRAINEE
TRIBAL DEFENDERS OFFICE
CONFEDERATED SALISH AND KOOTENAI TRIBES
Flathead Reservation
 1.3 million acres in northwest Montana
primarily in Lake County, 23% Native American
 Home to the Salish, Kootenai and Pend d’Oreilles
 7,779 tribal members, 5,180 live on the reservation
CSKT Tribal Complex
Addressing Recidivism with Holistic Defense
 2009: Received BJA funding for a Mental Health
Collaboration Program
 2011: Received technical assistance from the Center
for Holistic Defense
 Developed a team approach to provide seamless
access to justice with criminal and civil assistance
 Redefined positions allowing each staff person to
contribute to client services by utilizing their
particular knowledge and strengths
Legal secretary greets our clients, offers food, phone and a
place to be, makes reminder calls and is the office stylist
Office administrator created and coordinates a
bad checks diversion program
Civil attorney and advocate administer pro se clinic, address
collateral consequences, provide intake for walk-ins
Criminal advocate administers the driver’s license
diversion and cultural mentoring programs
Criminal defense, juvenile defense and appeals
Psychology and social work
Creating a Program to Fit the Community
 1. We used existing resources to meet clients’ legal
and social needs
 2. We used staff meetings to start interdisciplinary
communication and collaboration
 3. Collaborative efforts among staff promoted
advocates with interdisciplinary skill sets
 4. We formed a community clinic to understand and
connect to the community and we adapt to change
Intake
 Walk-in clinic
 Pro se assistance
 Standardized forms
 Computers to draft pleadings
 Assistance with process
 Information referral
 Access to an advocate or attorney to answer
questions
Pro se clinic
Assistance with Collateral Consequences
 Eviction due to criminal charges
 Licensing issues
 Employment
 Reentry
 Outreach to inmates
 Child protection issues
 Eligibility for financial assistance
 Registration issues
Cultural Mentoring
 Volunteer tribal elders mediate and counsel
 Dispute resolution
 Promote connection to the tribal community
 Provide access to the culture committees
 Divert criminal cases
Community Outreach
Tribal Defenders at the Standing Arrow Pow Wow
Dancers at Standing Arrow
Collaborations
 Tribal behavioral health
 Tribal police
 State public defenders
 University of Montana
 Social work
 Clinical psychology
 Law school/Indian Law Clinic
 New collaborations: plaintiffs attorneys, case
management/mental health services
Tribal Defenders sue the Ronan Police
CSKT Public Defenders join Ronan lawsuit
Concerned with community safety
PABLO — A group of attorneys, including the CSKT Public Defenders Office,
recently filed a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Lake County resident and Tribal
member, Anthony Chaney, for a harmful law enforcement situation created by the
City of Ronan Police Department and its police chief. The lawsuit also applies to
others who were subject to search and seizure by Trevor Wadsworth or other
ineligible peace officers acting as City of Ronan Police Officers. An estimated 100
plus people were likely impacted by these untrained officers.
Educating the community
Enrollment, living wills big topics at St. Ignatius District Meeting
By Adriana Fehrs
ST. IGNATIUS — Tribal Council representative Patty Stevens held a monthly tribal district meeting on
May 21, Wednesday night. Wills, living wills, power of attorney, and enrollment were discussed.
Stevens says, “We’ve had a couple of people asking to have someone come in a talk about wills. I think it
can be confusing, so I brought in some individuals from the Tribal Defenders to answer questions.”
Justin Kalmbach, CSKT Tribal Defender’s Office civil attorney, clarified a few important aspects of wills
and living wills. “Nominating a single person to carry out your final wishes is the first step in making a
will,” he informed the group
Tribal Defenders: rate of Native American incarceration 'shocking'
By Adriana Fehrs
PABLO — CSKT Tribal Defenders hosted a movie luncheon on Tuesday July 1. The movie presentation
focused on incarceration in the U.S., and Tribal Defenders Ann Sherwood and Justin Kalmbach invited
special guest Jim Taylor, Montana American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Legal Director, to give some
shocking statistics of incarcerated Native Americans.
Diversions
 Driver’s licenses
 Bad checks
 Cultural mentoring
 Mediation
 Mental health intervention
May 18, 2014 Painting Project
Case Management Services
 Case Management

Comprehensive needs assessment

Assistance to find housing and problem solving

Assistance with transportation

Access to social and financial services

Access to employment

Access to educational interests

Supportive services/resource identification

Assistance with court-ordered recommendation completion

Collaboration
Mental Health Services
 Variety of Referral Sources
 Assessment
 Chemical Dependency and/or Mental Health
 Accessibility
 Crisis assessment/intervention
 Counseling Services
 Peer Education/Psychoeducation
 Present various psychological topics in office staff meetings
 Consultation with defenders and advocates
 Collaboration
Outcomes
 2009 – 2012 Of 67 clients served through the
Defenders’ mental health collaboration program:


80.5% had 3 or fewer subsequent offenses
48% had zero recidivism (no new offenses)
 2011 – 2014 Of 54 clients served through the
Defenders’ cultural mentoring program 35 have not
reoffended.
 2014 Of 186 clients charged with Driving While
Suspended or Revoked 32 obtained valid licenses
through the Defenders’ license restoration assistance
Lessons learned
 Services first
 Open door policy
 Collaboration
 Recidivism reduction is not the only measure of success
 The answers to an overloaded criminal justice system are
more complicated than punishment can cure
 Clients have basic needs that, if met, will make them
more successful
 Listen to the experts: psychologists and social workers
What CSKT Defenders still need to do
 Data collection
 More resources for reentry
 Expansion of diversions, especially for juveniles
 Increase education to pro se litigants
 More community outreach that goes directly to our
clients
 Increase access to medical, mental health and chemical
dependency resources for our clients
 Decrease the number of mentally ill who still cycle
through the system for status related offenses
Opportunities for Tribal governments
 Public Defense services
 As tribes look to expand jurisdiction consider public defender
services rather than contracted counsel
 With limited resources tribes can still offer criminal
representation and civil assistance
 Clients who understand the proceedings and believe they were
treated fairly will more likely be successful
 Consider that diversion programs or special services to the
accused may best be offered by your public defenders
What public defenders can do with limited resources
 Become a resource for your community
 Exploit the knowledge and strengths of your staff
 Utilize the wealth of resources among your people
 Be part of the solution in the criminal justice system
 Be willing to change and evolve to suit your clients’
needs
 Apply for grants
 Apply for assistance from the Center for Holistic
Defense
Contact
Ann Sherwood
Desiree Pierre Fox
Tribal Defenders
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
P.O. 278
Pablo, MT 59855
(406) 675-2700 ext. 1125
[email protected]
Thank You!
National American Indian
Court Judges Association
3300 Arapahoe Ave, Suite 206
Boulder, CO 80303
Tel. (303) 449-4112
Fax (303) 449-4038
www.naicja.org
American Indian
Law Center Inc.
P.O. Box 4456
Albuquerque, NM 87196
Tel. (505) 277-5462
Fax (505) 277-1035
www.ail-inc.org
Panelist Bios
Alex Sierck graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Law
School in 1997, serving as Articles Editor for The Michigan Journal of Race
and Law and spending his summers at the Federal Defender Office for the
Eastern District of New York and at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Upon
graduating from law school, he worked as a staff attorney at the Criminal
Appeals Bureau of The Legal Aid Society in New York. He then joined New
York’s Capital Defender Office where he was a member of the legal team
that successfully represented the first person convicted and sentenced to
death under New York’s then newly-reinstated death penalty statute in his
appeal before The New York Court of Appeals. In 2000, Alex joined The
Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Defense Division in Manhattan and spent the
next six years representing poor people and conducting hearings and trials
in all manner of criminal cases. During that time he was also a member of
Legal Aid’s Juvenile Offender Team, specializing in the representation of
youths charged criminally as adults. Alex later lived and worked in San
Francisco, representing death-sentenced individuals in federal habeas
corpus proceedings and capitally-charged individuals in federal court. While
in California, he also taught as an adjunct professor at a local law school
and pursued graduate studies at UC Berkeley’s Graduate Theological
Union. Alex graduated cum laude from Carleton College with a degree in
philosophy and spent several years before law school working as a
community worker at The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem.
Panelist Bios
Ann Sherwood has been an attorney with the Defenders Office of the
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes for eighteen years. She has been
the managing attorney for the past nine years and maintains a criminal
caseload. Ms. Sherwood has been instrumental in utilizing cultural
resolutions to criminal charges. During her tenure, the office has
implemented an innovative in-house service for clients with co-occurring
mental health and chemical dependency and adopted a holistic defense
practice with assistance from the Center for Holistic Defense sponsored by
the Bronx Public Defenders Office in New York. Ms. Sherwood currently
serves on the Public Defender Commission for the State of Montana.