Native American Law Students Association (NALSA)

Events

Access to Justice for Native Americans: Criminal Law in Indian Country Speaker Series, Presented by the L&C Law School ACLU Student Group and NALSA

Date: March 17 2011, 12:00pm - 1:00pm Location: Classroom 1

Troy A. Eid is recognized as a national expert in American Indian law by the Chambers and Partners USA 2010 Guide, which also ranks him as one of Colorado’s top attorneys in environmental and natural resource law.

An Adjunct Professor in the American Indian Law Program at the University of Colorado Law School, Troy has worked extensively with various Indian tribes and nations for nearly 25 years. He has been involved in some of the most complex and high-profile legal matters in Indian Country. This includes federal, state and tribal court and appellate practice in energy and natural resources development, right-of-way negotiations, environmental protection, uranium clean-up, public health and workplace safety, commercial law, criminal justice, regulatory licensing, permitting and compliance, and administrative, civil and criminal investigations.

Mr. Eid will be discussing his recent law review article, “Separate But Unequal: The Federal Criminal Justice System in Indian Country,” University of Colorado Law Review, Fall 2010. Mr. Eid concludes that the federal criminal justice system serving Indian country today is “separate but unequal” and violates the Equal Protection rights of Native Americans living and working there. That system discriminates invidiously because it categorically applies only to Native Americans and then only to crimes arising on Indian lands.  It is unequal because it is largely unaccountable, needlessly complicated, comparatively under-funded, and results in disproportionately more severe punishments for the same crimes, especially for juveniles.