Babaamaajimowinan (Telling of news in different places)

Federal sentencing reform will help Native Americans

Native American girls face the highest rates of incarceration of any ethnic group. They are five times as likely as white girls to be sentenced to do time in a juvenile detention facility. Incarceration rates for Native American women are also disproportionately high.

For you this is probably just a startling statistic; for me it hits very close to home. My daughter is currently in her twelfth year of a 20-year sentence for drug possession.

It’s an all-too-common story on the reservation: Our young people making serious mistakes with drugs and being sentenced to lengthy stretches in federal prison. When they go away, they leave behind their families and their culture. Sometimes they leave behind their own children, creating a cycle that is incredibly difficult to break.

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/opinion/guest-opinions/2016/07/20/federal-sentencing-reform-will-help-native-americans/87361284/

 

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