The Pilot Project established by the
Violence Against Women Act of 2013 focuses on the power of a
participating tribe to exercise special domestic violence criminal
jurisdiction. Indian tribes may request designation as a
participating tribe on an accelerated basis; the Attorney General
will review each request and issue a decision. Information
resulting from this collection will be used to evaluate tribal
requests for accelerated authority to exercise this special
jurisdiction.
First, without the
emergency authorization, the statutorily-mandated project will not
happen. Indian tribes that want to make use of the special
authority right away may only do so under the pilot project. The
pilot project only has about a year left—it goes away by March
2015. We don’t think we’ll be able to get the pilot project up and
running given our time constraints without an emergency collection.
Second, the special authority will have a real impact on public
safety in Indian country. Under the pilot project, tribes would be
given the immediate authority to prosecute certain defendants who
commit acts of domestic violence in Indian country. Right now,
there are certain kinds of defendants that go unpunished for
committing acts of domestic violence in Indian country. The statute
that established the pilot project was designed to close these
terrible loopholes and ensure that perpetrators of violent crimes
committed against Indian women are held accountable for their
criminal behavior. There is a very real urgency here.
PL:
Pub.L. 113 - 4 904 Name of Law: Violence Against Women
Reauthorization Act of 2013
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.