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- All Subjects: American Indians
- All Subjects: San Francisco Peaks
- Creators: Miller, Robert
- Creators: Hillman, Amy
- Status: Published
Description
In this dissertation, I examine the treatment and sentencing of American Indian defendants. This work contributes to research on cumulative disadvantage and the role race and social context play to influence federal sentencing outcomes. Disparities in federal sentencing for racial and ethnic minorities are an important concern to scholars and policy makers. Literature suggests that blacks and Latinos are sentenced more harshly than similarly situated white offenders. These findings are concerning because they suggest that minorities are treated unfairly by the criminal justice system, questions the legitimacy of how offenders are processed and treated, and defendants of color who are meted out tougher punishments face substantial social and economic difficulties thereafter. Although the black-white and Latino-white disparities have been identified and highlighted, less is known about whether disparities extend to other minority groups, and consequently little is known about the treatment of these neglected groups.
I investigate whether American Indian defendants experience cumulative disadvantages at multiple decision points, disadvantage over time, and the effect of social context on drawing on American Indian disadvantage, the focal concerns and minority threat perspectives. The focal concerns perspective is used to develop hypotheses about how American Indian defendants will receive harsher punishments at multiple decision points. I also use this perspective to predict that American Indian disadvantages will increase over time. Lastly, I examine social context and its effect on punishment decisions for American Indians using the minority threat perspective. I hypothesize that social context impacts how American Indian defendants are sentenced at the federal level.
Data come from the Federal Justice Statistics Program Data Series, the US Census, and the Uniform Crime Report, with a focus on data gathered from the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and the United States Sentencing Commission. A range of modeling strategies are used to test the hypotheses including multinomial logistic regression, ordinary least squares regression, and multilevel modeling.
The results suggest that cumulative disadvantages against American Indian defendants is pronounced, American Indian disparity over time is significant for certain outcomes, and social context plays a limited role in American Indian sentencing disadvantage.
I investigate whether American Indian defendants experience cumulative disadvantages at multiple decision points, disadvantage over time, and the effect of social context on drawing on American Indian disadvantage, the focal concerns and minority threat perspectives. The focal concerns perspective is used to develop hypotheses about how American Indian defendants will receive harsher punishments at multiple decision points. I also use this perspective to predict that American Indian disadvantages will increase over time. Lastly, I examine social context and its effect on punishment decisions for American Indians using the minority threat perspective. I hypothesize that social context impacts how American Indian defendants are sentenced at the federal level.
Data come from the Federal Justice Statistics Program Data Series, the US Census, and the Uniform Crime Report, with a focus on data gathered from the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and the United States Sentencing Commission. A range of modeling strategies are used to test the hypotheses including multinomial logistic regression, ordinary least squares regression, and multilevel modeling.
The results suggest that cumulative disadvantages against American Indian defendants is pronounced, American Indian disparity over time is significant for certain outcomes, and social context plays a limited role in American Indian sentencing disadvantage.
ContributorsRedner-Vera, Erica N. (Author) / Wang, Xia (Thesis advisor) / Spohn, Cassia (Committee member) / Wallace, Danielle (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
The beginnings of this paper developed from the initial question of: how can tribal nations create private economies on their reservations? Written and researched from an undergraduate student perspective, this paper begins to answer the question by analyzing the historical and current states of Indian Country's diverse tribal economies. Additionally, this paper will identify various tribal economic development challenges with a specific emphasis on education attainment as a key factor. Then, a solution will be presented in the form of a tribal business program modeled within the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University located in Tempe, Arizona. The solution is grounded in the idea that a highly qualified workforce is the best resource for economic development.
ContributorsTso, Cora Lee (Author) / Miller, Robert (Thesis director) / Hillman, Amy (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / American Indian Studies Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
The San Francisco Peaks rise to a height of over 12,000 feet on the Colorado Plateau of Northern Arizona. The remnants of an extinct volcano, the Peaks are sacred to thirteen Southwestern Indigenous nations; they are home to the Kachina spirits of the Hopi, and they mark the eastern boundary of Dinétah, the Navajo homeland. For residents of the city of Flagstaff, which lies just south of the Peaks, the mountains are a source of water, a symbol of the community, and a crucial part of the regional economy. In the summer, tourists from the hot deserts of central and southern Arizona are drawn to the Peaks for a respite from temperatures that routinely reach the triple digits. In the winter, the Arizona Snow Bowl ski area, located on the western slope of the Peaks, provides winter recreation that is crucial to the winter economy of Flagstaff. The intersection of Indigenous religion with Flagstaff’s tourist economy, as well as environmental concerns, has made the Peaks a flashpoint for community conflict numerous times over the last half century. This dissertation explores the Hart Prairie Controversy, a conflict over use of the Peaks that began in 1969 when landowner and developer, Bruce Leadbetter, proposed a ski village to be located at Hart Prairie, just 1,000 feet of elevation below the base of the Arizona Snow Bowl. Leadbetter’s plans for a commercial and residential development to support thousands of tourists and newcomers alarmed neighboring landowners, local environmentalists, and Northern Arizona’s tribal nations, especially members of the Hopi and Navajo tribes. For almost a decade, Indigenous and non-Indigenous actors formed a loose coalition, sometimes working together, sometimes with differing aims, to oppose the Snow Bowl Village proposal through appearances at public hearings, statements in the local media, and when necessary, legal action. This dissertation shows the Hart Prairie Controversy as an example of a time when a confluence of social movements and increased legal and political access, especially among American Indians, coalesced to preserve unique spiritual and ecological ground from development and desecration.
ContributorsHolly, William C (Author) / Lim, Julian (Thesis advisor) / Tebeau, Mark (Committee member) / Miller, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023