Online Resources

The following publications and articles provide more information about protection orders and full faith and credit.

Enforcement of Tribal Protection Orders in California – YouTube – This public service announcement explains how tribal court protection orders are to be given full faith and credit under the federal Violence Against Women Act and California Family Code. Courts and law enforcement must recognize and enforce protection orders from other jurisdictions as if the order was from their own jurisdiction.

DISCLAIMER: Be aware that some of the publications and articles provided below may NOT be updated to reflect Violence Against Women Act 2013 (VAWA 2013) provisions such as (1) clarification of tribal civil authority to issue and enforce protection orders in 18 U.S.C. 2265(e) (updated 2013), and (2) the Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction provisions which recognized tribal inherent criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians who commit certain acts of domestic violence and protection order violations.

Webinars

Contempt and Tribal Protection Orders – The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, and the National Congress of American Indians are hosting the final webinar in the series on tribal protection orders – “Contempt and tribal protection orders.” This webinar will discuss what powers judges have to maintain the safety, order and integrity of the court while issuing and enforcing tribal protection orders.

Issuing Tribal Protection Orders – The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, and the National Congress of American Indians are hosting a webinar series on tribal protection orders. This webinar will discuss how to craft tribal protection orders, what language must be included in a tribal protection order, and how to meet the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) full faith and credit provision.

Tribal Protection Orders – Enforcing protection orders generally and for VAWA Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction (SDVCJ) discusses how to enforce tribal protection orders through: criminal prosecution, criminal contempt, and civil contempt. Enforcing tribal protection order under the VAWA SDVCJ is also addressed.

For Survivors
Increasing Your Safety: Full Faith and Credit for Protection Orders (BWJP)
This guide is intended to help people in need of protection orders understand the full faith and credit provision of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), 18 U.S.C. § 2265 (2006), by explaining the federal law and offering ideas about how to get help if you have problems with the enforcement of your protection order.

For Advocates
Full Faith and Credit for Protection Orders: Assisting Survivors with Enforcement Across Jurisdictional Lines (BWJP)
Guide for assisting survivors with enforcement across jurisdictional lines.

For Law Enforcement
Protecting Victims of Domestic Violence: A Law Enforcement Officer’s Guide to Enforcing Protection Orders Nationwide (BWJP)
A law enforcement officer’s guide to enforcing protection orders nationwide.

Full Faith and Credit: Enforcing Protection Orders – Pocket Guide (BWJP)
A law enforcement officer’s Pocket Guide to enforcing protection orders.

Extending Project Passport: National Center for State Courts
An Overview of passport concept and on related topics, such as full faith and credit, federal firearms laws, tribal-state collaboration, and protection order data sharing.

Law Enforcement Authority in Indian Country by Professor Melissa L. Tatum (2003)
The full faith and credit provisions of the VAWA have great potential to close some of the gaps in cross-jurisdictional enforcement of protection orders. Unfortunately, when it enacted the VAWA, Congress did not focus on the difference between tribal and state jurisdictions, while at the same time leaving the details of enforcement up to each tribe and each state. As a result, tribal governments, and particularly tribal law enforcement officials, must make many decisions about how to establish procedures that can be applied both to protection orders issued by the tribe and protection orders issued by other jurisdictions.

For Judges
A Passport for Safety: A Judges Bench Card (NCJFCJ)
An overview of protection orders for judges and judicial officials.

Domestic Violence Virtual Classroom
This online program is designed to have you preside over a civil hearing where a petitioner is seeking a restraining order and a criminal hearing where the restraining order has been violated. This training program presents video scenarios and pertinent documents for a civil hearing on a restraining order and a criminal hearing on a violation of the protection order.

Civil Protection Orders: A Guide for Improving Practice (NCJFCJ, 2010)
This publication is known as the CPO Guide. The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, in partnership with the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women developed the CPO Guide as a tool designed to support the work of professionals dedicated to enhancing the effectiveness of the civil protection order process. It provides guidance for advocates, attorneys, judges, law enforcement personnel, and prosecutors to help ensure that protection orders are effectively issued, served, and enforced across the country.

Creative Civil Remedies against Non-Indian Offenders in Indian Country by Hallie Bongar White, Jim White, Kelly Stoner (2008)
This report addresses current jurisdictional constraints and suggests strategies to maximize the exercise of sovereign powers necessary to maintain justice, safety, and order on tribal lands. Each section of the report contains a brief discussion of the relevant jurisdictional challenges and is then followed by a series of recommendations.

A Primer on Tribal Court Contempt Power by Matthew Fletcher (2008)
Supreme Court doctrine bars tribal courts from exercising criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians, but tribal courts often are the only practical mechanism available to protect Indian women from non-Indian domestic violence. Congress recognized this fact in the Violence Against Women Act by noting that tribal courts may use their civil contempt power to enforce personal protection orders originating in foreign jurisdictions. This short paper describes the civil contempt power of tribal courts, and how tribal courts have used this power. The paper concludes with a short analysis of the implications of federal Indian law on tribal court authority to issue civil contempt citations to non-Indians.

Full Faith and Credit, Comity or Federal Mandate? A Path that Leads to Recognition and Enforcement of Tribal Court Orders, Tribal Protection Orders, and Tribal Child Custody Orders by Kelly Stoner and Richard A. Orona (2004)
This article discusses three possible avenues focused on obtaining enforcement of tribal court judgments; the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution, the doctrine of comity, and the enactment of federal statutes that mandate full faith and credit for certain judgments such as the Violence against Women Act (VAWA) and the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).

Tribal Domestic Violence Orders: A Judge’s Guide (Alaska Tribes)
An overview of protection orders for Alaska judges and judicial officials.

For Prosecutors
Prosecutor’s Guide to Full Faith and Credit for Protection Orders: Protecting Victims of Domestic Violence (BWJP)
A prosecutor’s guide to full faith and credit for protection orders and for protecting victims of domestic violence.

For Attorneys
Violence Against Native Women: A Guide for Practitioner Action (BWJP, 2006)
This paper reviews actions taken by the U.S. government and many tribal nations to respond to violence against Native women and to eliminate barriers to justice and healing for Native women who have survived domestic or sexual violence. Practice tips are included to assist practitioners and elected tribal officials. The paper concludes with a list of resources and a glossary. This paper is intended to serve as a guide to practitioners who represent Native women who are the victims of domestic and sexual violence.

For Tribal Leaders
Enforcement of Domestic Violence Protection Orders by Mary E. Guss and Melissa L. Tatum, The University of Arizona NativeNet Professional Development Series (2010)
This Guidebook is designed to provide context and highlight matters for tribal code-designers to consider when contemplating issues surrounding the enforcement of protection orders issued in their courts or the courts of states or other tribes.

Establishing Penalties for Violations of Protection Orders: What Tribal Governments Need to Know by Melissa L. Tatum (2003)
This essay explores the import of the VAWA’s full faith and credit provisions and how tribal governments can take full advantage of those provisions to maximize the protection afforded to those shielded by protection orders.

A Jurisdictional Quandary: Challenges Facing Tribal Governments in Implementing the Full Faith and Credit Provisions of the Violence Against Women Act by Melissa L. Tatum (2001)
This article explores the jurisdictional rules that apply to state and to tribes and examine the impact of those different rules on VAWA’s Full Faith and Credit provisions. The article also includes a model tribal code for enforcement of foreign protection orders.

Expanding the Network of Safety: Tribal Protection Orders for Survivors of Sexual Assault by Sarah Deer (2003)
This article develops an independent analysis of the need for sexual assault protection orders at the tribal level, in light of the reality of sexual violence against Native women and the unique limitations on tribal criminal jurisdiction.

This site focuses on protection orders; for more information about domestic violence visit:

• TLPI’s Domestic Violence Resources page
• American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence
• National Domestic Violence Hotline
  1-800-799-SAFE1-800-799-SAFE FREE (7233) or 1-800-787-32241-800-787-3224 FREE (TTY)
• Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network
  1-800-656-HOPE1-800-656-HOPE FREE