ERIC Number: ED148511
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1977-Mar
Pages: 78
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Justice in Flagstaff: Are These Rights Inalienable?
Pares, Maria; And Others
Utilizing official records and reports, the Arizona Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights conducted an investigation of the criminal justice process afforded American Indians in Flagstaff, Arizona. The investigation focused on Indian treatment from arrest through sentencing and 2 days of informal hearings held in both Tucson and Flagstaff during the fall of 1975. Specifically, the investigation centered on: the initial encounter with law enforcement officials; arrest information (about 40% of all people arrested in Flagstaff in 1974 were Indian--65% of those arrested for alcoholic related offenses); appearance in court; advisement of rights; right to counsel; right to bail or release on one's own recognizance; right to trial by jury; the guilty plea; and Flagstaff's Local Alcohol Reception Center (LARC). Findings indicated: unnecessary arrests in violation of the law had been made of persons who were intoxicated; the State and Flagstaff had failed to provide adequate funding for local alcohol centers; of those persons arrested for minor traffic offenses, illegal bond had been required of American Indians only; nonlawyer magistrates had failed to fully advise defendants of their constitutional rights; a fulltime court interpreter was needed for monolingual Indian defendants; a state-wide public defender system was needed to assure proper defense; and provisions needed to be made to insure that American Indians served on jury panels. The Committee developed 12 recommendations addressing the legal and operational specifics of its findings. (JC)
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Arizona State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Phoenix.
Identifiers - Location: Arizona
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A