The emblem of the United States federal court of Montana (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).
Enough is enough. Together, we call on the Biden-Harris Administration to stop fighting Native women victims and, instead, grant them the justice they deserve. Specifically, we demand that
Attorney General Merrick Garland and Montana U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich pay L.B. for the pain and suffering she has endured, instead of forcing her to continue this fight.
As Chairman of the Coalition of Large Tribes (COLT) and Executive Director of the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, we understand firsthand that the crisis of violence against
Native women has reached epic proportions in this country. A leading cause of this violence is the lack of good, reliable policing in our communities. We know the United States Supreme Court, in
Oliphant vs. Suquamish Indian Tribe, took away the inherent right of our Tribal Nations to prosecute any and all violent crimes committed against our tribal citizens in their own homes.
Native people must rely—in most instances—on federal law enforcement to protect them.
L.B.’s case is a tragic example of why we cannot trust this system to protect our women.
Nine years ago, L.B. called federal law enforcement for help. But when the Bureau of Indian Affairs officer showed up at her house in response, he threatened to arrest her and take her children away unless she had sex with him. The BIA officer who raped L.B. denied her accusations—until DNA testing revealed that he had impregnated her. L.B. is raising her beautiful child today, but the physical, financial, and emotional costs of the rape she endured at the hands of a federal law officer have left deep scars.
L.B. filed a lawsuit against the United States federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act, seeking to recover for the damages she endured. However, the Biden Administration, led by
Garland and Laslovich, has chosen to fight L.B. in her journey for justice. Rather than accepting responsibility for this heinous violent crime committed by an officer while on duty, and paying
her the $1.6 million in damages awarded by a Montana court, Laslovich’s office has taken the position that the United States cannot be held responsible under the law for the actions of its officer
because the officer committed the rape for his own pleasure, and not part of his policing function for the BIA.
For nine years, L.B. has been on a journey for justice. The United States has forced her to take her case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals twice , once to the Montana Supreme Court, and now back before the district court in Montana. Earlier this summer, when the case was argued before the Ninth Circuit in Portland, Oregon, a male Montana Assistant United States Attorney told an all-female panel of judges that the United States cannot be held responsible for the actions of its officer because the officer had a crush on the Native woman victim since they were both children in the same tribal community. The chief judge of the Ninth Circuit panel actually had to explain to the Montana Assistant U.S. Attorney that rape is a crime of violence and not about sexual attraction.
Unsurprisingly, the Ninth Circuit rejected the arguments made by Laslovich’s and Garland’s Justice Department. But their dangerously uninformed arguments send a clear message to our communities and Native people nationwide: Ehen we call federal law enforcement for help, we can expect to be raped, and we can expect that the United States will never take responsibility.
The result of these arguments perpetuated by Laslovich’s office is that our women will stop calling the police. When faced with a choice between becoming a victim and calling for help and being raped by the officer who arrives to help you, most will not choose to pick up the phone. Tales of violence at the hands of BIA officers are all too common in Indian Country and the Justice Department enables the perpetrators.
Laslovich’s unwavering commitment to fighting L.B. is just one example of how the department Garland leads contributes daily and directly to the high rates of violence we continue to face in our communities. Cases like this are a contributor to the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP).
The solution is simple. Follow the Ninth Circuit’s ruling that Native women on Indian reservations have the same rights as other Montanans to pursue claims against law enforcement wrongdoers. Take responsibility. Publicly apologize for the conduct of your law officer. Make it clear to your entire agency and the public that his actions are intolerable within federal law enforcement. And pay L.B. the money she is owed . Money will not heal the deep wounds left by the heinous sexual assault she endured. But repeatedly telling her and the entire country that she does not deserve justice because her rapist had a crush on her is incredibly harmful and misogynistic.
L.B. has been fighting for justice for nine years. With her recent decisive victory in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, it’s time for Laslovich and Garland to stop fighting her. If they truly care about the crisis of violence raging against Native women, they will do the right thing, they will accept responsibility, they will honor the monetary damages award already ordered by a Montana court, and they will give L.B. the justice she deserves. In so doing, they can begin to restore tribal citizens’ faith in the institutions treaty-bound to protect them.
Marvin Weatherwax, Jr., is the chairman of the Coalition of Large Tries and a representative in the Montana Legislature. Lucy Simpson is the executive director of the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center.
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