Document Type
Article
Abstract
Tribal judiciaries are paramount to tribal sovereignty and accessed by court users for many purposes. Access to justice ensures that everyone should be able to understand and assert their rights in a fair tribal justice system. This can be a challenge for rural areas, but even more so in Indian Country due to the complex web of factors such as legal and jurisdictional complexities, the colonization of Indian Nations by federal and state governments, and resource restraints. Due to these barriers and as an effort to serve their communities, tribal justice systems develop mechanisms that are solution based and at the same time build resilient courts. This paper will focus on demonstrating how the application of restorative justice principles improves access to justice in tribal justice systems. The authors will examine what access to justice looks like for tribal justice systems and discuss the restorative justice movement. The discussion will highlight how the restorative justice movement is based on Indigenous roots. Part of this discussion will also include how the use of restorative justice practices includes more trauma informed practices, which increases access to justice. Finally, the authors will provide recommendations on how tribal justice systems can improve access to justice through restorative justice practices.
DOI
https://www.doi.org/10.70657/SDLR.V71.I3.519
Recommended Citation
Carrie E. Garrow, Danielle J. Mayberry & Micaelee Horn,
Increasing Access to Justice Through the Use of Indigenous Restorative Justice and Trauma Informed Practices,
71
S.D. L. Rev.
519
(2026).
Available at:
https://red.library.usd.edu/sdlrev/vol71/iss3/9