MMIW Cases
| Submitted | Oct. 27, 2018 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Sovereign Bodies Institute
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the California Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
Data on all cases of: unsolved missing persons, and unsolved/solved homicides, suspicious deaths, and deaths in custody involving an Alaska Native/American Indian woman or girl victim within your jurisdiction(s). For the purposes of this request, "Alaska Native/American Indian" is defined as any individual who was identified as a member of an Alaska Native or American Indian community or as having Alaska Native/American Indian heritage. "Woman or girl" includes all victims identified as females, as well as transgender women. If there are any Jane Does that have been identified as potentially Alaska Native or American Indian, please include them as well. We are requesting cases dating from 1900 to the present.
This request is for basic information on cases as classified above. Such information may include but is not limited to victim name, location and date of disappearance/death, age of victim, status of case (solved or unsolved).
This request is being filed with the California Department of Justice based on the recommendation of representatives from the California Highway Patrol.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 calendar days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Annita Lucchesi
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following California Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 27, 2018. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: California Department of Justice
Dear Ms. Luccehesi,
Attached please find a response to your request that was received by the California Attorney General's Office on October 29, 2018.
Best regards,
Nicole Arnaiz
CA Department of Justice
CJIS Division
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This communication with its contents may contain confidential and/or legally privileged information. It is solely for the use of the intended recipient(s). Unauthorized interception, review, use or disclosure is prohibited and may violate applicable laws including the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender and destroy all copies of the communication.
From: Sovereign Bodies Institute
Hello Ms Arnaiz,
Thank you for providing this information, it's much appreciated. I do have a few clarifying questions regarding the records provided--
(1) can you confirm that all the cases of missing persons you sent me are people who are still listed as missing?
(2) can you explain why the missing persons list includes both American Indian and Indian American people?
(3) the homicide file provided doesn't actually provide any victim names or information we can use to log such cases in our own records. This is for a national project assessing numbers and dynamics of violence against indigenous women and girls, so more detailed data would be crucial for us.
Thank you,
Annita
From: California Department of Justice
Dear Ms. Lucchesi,
Please see below your three requests followed by our office's responses.
Request (1): Can you confirm that all the cases of missing persons you sent me are people who are still listed as missing?
Response: Yes. The list that was sent to you is of current missing persons as of the date the report was ran, November 11, 2018.
Request (2): Can you explain why the missing persons list includes both American Indian and Indian American people?
Response: As indicated in our response letter, American Indian is denoted by "I." The list includes only "I," therefore, Indian American persons are not included.
Request (3): The homicide file provided doesn't actually provide any victim names or information we can use to log such cases in our own records. This is for a national project assessing numbers and dynamics of violence against indigenous women and girls, so more detailed data would be crucial for us.
Response: As indicated in our response letter, we excluded the names of` the homicide victims to prevent re-identification due to the victim to offender relationship. As such, we will not be providing you with the victim names.
However, the Department of Justice (DOJ) discloses statistical data to bona fide research bodies and public agencies pursuant to Penal Code sections 11105 and 13202. If you are a research body, then your request would fall under the DOJ's research request process. In order to request the data through this process, complete the packet regarding policies and procedures that relate to accessing criminal offender record information, found here: https://oag.ca.gov/research-center/request-process. The document, Conditions for Release of Criminal Offender Record Information, must be reviewed and signed by the project lead/requester. When completed, email all required documentation to Researchrequest@doj.ca.gov<mailto:Researchrequest@doj.ca.gov>. Once the packet is received, it will be reviewed and you will be notified if it is approved.
Best,
Nicole