JUNEAU, AK (March 1, 2022) – The Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska's Public Safety Director Jason Wilson has issued the following statement in response to U.S. President Joe Biden's nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Tlingit & Haida Public Safety Director's Statement:
Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to be the next Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States, and I want to provide perspective from the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s (Tlingit & Haida) Public Safety division on this nominee.
Tlingit & Haida has operated the Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) program for rural communities in Southeast Alaska since 2010 in partnership with local municipalities and the Alaska State Troopers. The VPSO program in Alaska began in 1979 and provides search and rescue, fire protection, emergency medical assistance, crime prevention and basic law enforcement. The program trains and employs individuals residing in the village as first responders and was created to reduce the loss of life due to fires, drowning, lost person(s), and the lack of immediate emergency medical assistance in rural communities.
Understanding Judge Jackson comes from a law enforcement family, she knows quite well the critical work of law enforcement to ensure there is a public safety presence in all of our communities. Judge Jackson’s brother served as an undercover officer in a drug-sting unit in Baltimore after graduating from college and two of her uncles served in law enforcement – one was a Miami-Dade County sex crimes detective and the other rose through the ranks of the City of Miami Police Department to become the Chief of Police.
The VPSO program is essential to the safety of our Southeast Alaska communities and it takes collaboration. These communities have experienced first-hand how much a community can suffer and be impacted when there is a lack of public safety services available. Collaboration and understanding of how to fairly apply the law is critical to the work of law enforcement and public safety. Judge Jackson’s record shows that she knows how to consistently and fairly apply the law on a range of issues. From her work on the U.S. Sentencing Commission to serving as a federal public defender, Judge Jackson has dedicated her life to hard work and fairness, and forged a career rooted in public service and justice. She has earned this appointment through her example of temperament, intellect, legal experience, and life experience. With her exceptional qualifications and record of even-handedness, Judge Jackson will no doubt be a Justice who will protect the rights of all Americans and will be committed to America’s foundational principles of freedom, equality, and the rule of law.
Tlingit & Haida has been very much engaged on the issue of sentencing reform and is dedicated to addressing the disproportionate representation of Alaska Natives needing reentry and recovery support. Through Tlingit & Haida’s Tribal Court and Reentry & Recovery department, we aim to reduce recidivism and implement cohesive restorative justice practices. During Judge Jackson’s service as the Commissioner and Vice Chairman of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, she played a key role in major criminal just reform. She led efforts to reduce unwarranted sentencing disparities and retroactively apply sentencing for certain drug crimes to ensure that federal sentences were just and proportionate. Her work on sentencing reform was a critical part of the First Step Act, a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill that became law in 2018.
President Biden has called on the Senate to move forward with a fair and timely confirmation and hearing. Should Judge Jackson be confirmed, I am confident she will go forward with an open mind and treat law enforcement issues fairly and justly. I wish her well in the confirmation process.