Savanna's Act
The Savanna's Act or #MMIW Act reforms law enforcement and justice protocols appropriate to address missing and murdered Native women, and for other purposes. An initial version of the bill passed the Senate on December 6, 2018.[1] It was held by Bob Goodlatte on December 10, 2018.[2]
Other short titles | MMIW Act |
---|---|
Long title | To update the online data entry format for federal databases relevant to cases of missing and murdered indigenous women. |
Acronyms (colloquial) | Savanna's Act |
Legislative history | |
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The bill, after the 2018–19 United States federal government shutdown reintroduced in 2019 as S.227, was nicknamed after Fargo, North Dakota resident Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind was brutally murdered in August 2017 as an example of the horrific statistics regarding abuse and homicide of Native American women.[3] Related bills on the state level are Hanna's Act in Montana, a bill named after Hanna Harris of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Tribe in Montana, who was 21 years old when she went missing on July 4, 2013.[4][5]
Support and opposition
Initially just a method to improve data collection on missing and murdered Indigenous women to address that crisis for law enforcement bodies on both reservations and non-reservation US territories, modifications to give tribal law enforcement access to federal databases seems to expose a lack of trust on both sides. To help this act along, the S. 982 Not Invisible Act has been introduced to the House on the initiative of Deb Haaland and Norma Torres and to the Senate by Catherine Cortez Masto on April 2, 2019 to increase intergovernmental coordination to identify and combat violent crime within Indian lands and of Indians.[6][7][8]
References
- "Savanna's Act". Actions – S.1942 — 115th Congress (2017-2018). Congress. 6 December 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
- A Single GOP Congressman Is Blocking A Bill To Help Abused Native Women, Huffington Post article by Jennifer Bendery, 12/17/2018
- S.1942 on congress.gov
- House Bill No. 21 on Montana Legislature website
- Addressing Crisis of Missing and Murdered Native Women - NCAI on the website of the National Congress of American Indians
- S. 982 on congress.gov
- Reps. Haaland, Torres announce U.S. House version of Savanna’s Act, address MMIW efforts on Digital Indigenous News
- Opinion: Native Women Are Getting Murdered. This Is How We Stop It, by Catherine Cortez Masto on June 20, 2019 for Vice
External links
- MMIWG Database
- Senate Bill Pushes The Feds To Focus On Violence Against Native Women, by Jennifer Bendery, April 3, 2019 for Huffington Post
- Crisis Missing and Murdered Native American Women by Grace Segers on June 12, 2019 for CBS news
- Statement about Savanna's Act by Tracy Toulou of the Office of Tribal Justice before Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, June 19, 2019