Darrell Dowty serves as Associate Justice of the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court and maintains a private law practice in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He also currently serves as Associate Justice of the Kaw Nation Supreme Court, as well as judge for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation District Court and the Sac and Fox Nation District Court.
Joseph Flies-Away formerly served as Chief Judge of the Hualapai Tribal Court, and he currently serves as pro tem judge for several tribal courts in the Southwest. In addition, Mr. Flies-Away works as a Community Nation Building Consultant in Phoenix, Arizona. He spoke with the Center in May 2010 about his experience as a tribal court judge and his vision for the future of the tribal judiciary.
P.J. Herne currently serves as Chief Judge of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and has previously worked as a prosecutor and defense attorney in Franklin County, New York. Here he speaks about the challenges of expanding a tribal justice system and opening the lines of communication between tribal and state courts. This interview was originally published in the Fall 2009 Journal of Court Innovation.
B.J. Jones serves as a tribal court judge for over 10 different tribal nations and currently serves as director of the Tribal Judicial Institute at the University of North Dakota School of Law. Here he shares his experiences working in both tribal and state courts and the fundamental lesson he’s learned: that solutions come from communities. This interview was originally published in the Fall 2009 Journal of Court Innovation.
David Raasch currently serves as Associate Judge of the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Court, and he provides training and technical assistance to tribal communities as a tribal court specialist with Fox Valley Technical College. Here he discusses his role as a proponent of the peacemaking approach and his insight into the lingering distrust between tribal and state justice systems. This interview was originally published in the Fall 2009 Journal of Court Innovation.
Barbara Smith is currently serving her third term as Chief Justice of the Chickasaw Nation Supreme Court. Prior to this appointment, she served as District Court Judge for the Chickasaw Nation. In this interview she discusses the importance of understanding Native culture in the courtroom, and the role of peacemaking in tribal justice systems. This interview was originally published in the Fall 2009 Journal of Court Innovation.
Judge Wahwassuck currently serves as Associate Judge of the Leech Lake Tribal Court. She has been a leader in developing the first joint jurisdiction tribal-state courts in the nation: the Leech Lake-Cass County Wellness Court, developed in 2006, and the Leech Lake-Itasca County Wellness Court, developed in 2007. Here she describes the creation of these historic partnerships and the importance of tribal-state court collaboration. This interview was originally published in the Fall 2009 Journal of Court Innovation.
