Court Opinion

ID: 9494949
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 15:51:17.27849+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:56:44.075415
License: Public Domain

HEANEY, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I agree with the majority’s conclusion that Hubbeling is not entitled to relief on his ineffective assistance of counsel claim. However, I write separately to address the concerns I have with the federal government’s inability to effectively deal with the disproportionate number of child sexual abuse cases emanating from South Dakota’s Indian Reservations.
In 1997, I wrote about the plethora of convictions in the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota involving Native Americans and the sexual abuse of children that are presented to this court. See United States v. Miner, 131 F.3d 1271, 1274-75 (8th Cir.1997). A review of child sexual abuses cases that have been presented to this court since that time reveals that this behavior continues to be prevalent in the South Dakota Indian Reservations, and that the United States Department of Interior, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and tribal leadership have failed to take actions to eliminate the causes of the abuse.4
As my colleague' Judge Bright noted in Miner, the high incidence of child sex abuse on South Dakota’s Indian reservations is partially attributable to the impoverished, overcrowded living conditions facing many Native American families in these areas. See Id. at 1275 (Bright, M., concurring). The prevalence of alcohol abuse on the reservations is another contributing factor. Yet, the federal government continues to concentrate its resources on the investigation and prosecution of sexual abuse cases, and the treatment of victims of sexual abuse. While such programs are necessary, I would suggest that to reduce the incidence of child sexual abuse in the future, federal funds and policies must be directed towards alleviating the conditions which give rise to such abuse. Living conditions on the reservations must be improved, and alcoholism must be effectively treated, or future genera*369tions of Native American children will continue to be scarred by the trauma of this crime.

. See e.g. United States v. Bruguier, 161 F.3d 1145 (8th Cir.1998) (sexual abuse of seventeen-month-old girl); United States v. Looking, 156 F.3d 803 (8th Cir.1998) (sexual abuse of six-month-old girl); United States v. Magpie, No. 98-1227, 1998 WL 453694 (8th Cir. July 28, 1998) (sexual abuse of six-year-old girl, four-year-old girl, and five-year-old boy); United States v. Eagle, 133 F.3d 608 (8th Cir.1998) (sexual assault of mentally handicapped thirteen year-old-girl); United States v. Red Bird, No. 97-2429, 1998 WL 50959 (8th Cir. Feb.10, 1998); United States v. Eagle, 137 F.3d 1011 (8th Cir.1998) (sexual abuse of eight-year-old girl); United States v. Mound, 149 F.3d 799 (8th Cir.1998) (sexual abuse of ten-year old girl); United States v. Crow, 148 F.3d 1048 (8th Cir.1998) (sexual abuse of ten-year old girl); United States v. Running Horse, 175 F.3d 635 (8th Cir.1999); United States v. Waters, 194 F.3d 926 (8th Cir.1999) (sexual abuse of nine-year-old girl); United States v. Marrowbone, 211 F.3d 452 (8th Cir.2000) (sexual abuse of sixteen-year-old boy); United States v. Withorn, 204 F.3d 790 (8th Cir.2000) (rape of twelve-year-old girl); United States v. Kirkie, 261 F.3d 761 (8th Cir.2001) (sexual abuse of eleven-year-old girl); United States v. Blue, 255 F.3d 609 (8th Cir.2001) (sexual abuse of twenty-one-month-old girl); United States v. Eagle Feather, No. 00-2663, 2 Fed.Appx. 597, 2001 WL 59051 (8th Cir. Jan.25, 2001); United States v. Gabe, 237 F.3d 954 (8th Cir.2001); United States v. Black Bull, No. 01-1332, 14 Fed.Appx. 730, 2001 WL 792550 (8th Cir. July 16, 2001) (sexual abuse of six-year-old girl); United States v. Red Cloud, No. 00-2604, 8 Fed.Appx. 579, 2001 WL 474762 (8th Cir. May 7, 2001); United States v. Bull, No. 01-2944, 32 Fed.Appx. 778, 2002 WL 113839 (8th Cir. Jan.30, 2002); United States v. White Horse, 177 F.Supp.2d 973 (D.S.D.2001); United States v. Azure, No. CR-99-30077, 1999 WL 33218402 (D.S.D., Oct 19, 1999); United States, v. Arcoren, No. CR-89-30049, 1999 WL 638244 (D.S.D., Jul 27, 1999).