WASHINGTON -- Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) didn't vote for the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization bill when it passed the Senate last week. And on Wednesday, he gave a blunt reason why: he doesn't think tribal courts are capable of giving a fair trial to non-Native Americans.
Grassley was holding a town hall meeting in Indianola, Iowa, when a constituent asked him about his VAWA vote. Think Progress reported on the meeting and posted a video of Grassley's response, during which he argued that, since reservations are made up of Native Americans, those jurists wouldn't be fair to a non-Native American.
"If you have a jury, the jury is supposed to be a reflection of society," Grassley said. "Under the laws of our land, you've got to have a jury that is a reflection of society as a whole, and on an Indian reservation, it's going to be made up of Indians, right? So the non-Indian doesn't get a fair trial."
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