Amid all of the national discussion about Kavanaugh and Blasey Ford, which stirs up prior events on the issue of sexual assault, Alaska is, unfortunately, contributing to the discussion. September 19, 2018, a plea deal was accepted by Judge Micheal Corey in the case of 34 year old Justin Schneider. I’m not ready to go into the details of the offenses that Schneider was accused of and plead guilty to, a story is available through KTVA at: http://www.ktva.com/story/39123509/anchorage-man-pleads-guilty-in-choking-sexual-assault-case
The deal that Judge Corey accepted is generating a lot of discussion, and rightly so. I’d like to give some additional background information that highlights why that plea deal is a problem:
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Alaska Native or American Indians (men and women) make up approximately 15.3% of Alaska’s population [1]. However, Native women make up 61% of the state’s rape victims (Williams, 2012).[2]
In the 2004 report, “American Indians and Crime” [3], it was found that Native Americans and Alaska Natives are twice as likely to be raped or sexually assaulted compared to all other races.
The National Institute of Justice noted that Native Americans and Alaska Natives are more likely to be victims of sexual violence across race lines than white victims. Of Native women, 96% are sexually assaulted by perpetrators of another race (among sexual assault survivors who are non-hispanic white women, 91% are assaulted by someone of the same race), and 90% of domestic violence against Native women is perpetrated by an interracial partner.[4]
It is also important to note that in 2011, federal prosecutors declined to file charges in 52% of violent crime cases on Indian land (Williams, 2012).[2]
Not only did Schneider disregard the harm done to his victim as he addressed the court, but the prosecutor and court did as well when they drafted and accepted the deal.
The story about this case has an feeling of immediacy for me. I’m Alaskan Native. (Sam is not.) I’m part of the statistics I’ve quoted above, though I didn’t know it until I started working towards a masters of legal studies degree this past year. In our divorce hearing, Sam admitted to physical, emotional and sexual abuse. The judge (who wasn’t Judge Corey) heard it, acknowledged it, though used euphemisms to discuss it, and set custody and visitation to try to provide a safe venue in which Sam and Max could continue to know each other. The judge also, however, referred to Sam’s relationship with Ingrid (who is of Irish descent) as “appropriate” and believed that Sam would not do the same to her. That belief was unfounded.
I also think that the court’s hope that Schneider won’t re-offend again is unwarranted.
REFERENCES:
[1] U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/ak
[2] Williams, Timothy. (May 22, 2012). For Native American Women, Scourge of Rape, Rare Justice. New York Times.
[3] Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2004). American Indians and Crime: A BJS Statistical Profile. Washington, DC.
[4] Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice. (May 2016). Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and Men 2010 Findings From the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. Washington, DC: NIJ Journal 277.
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