Melissa L. Tatum
Research Professor of Law

- Room Number: 266
Professor Tatum specializes in tribal jurisdiction and tribal courts, as well as in issues relating to cultural property and sacred places. She was a contributing author to Felix Cohen's Handbook of Federal Indian Law, and has written extensively about both civil and criminal procedural issues, as well as about the relationship between tribal, state, and federal courts. Professor Tatum consulted with the Pascua Yaqui Tribe as it became one of the first in the nation to implement VAWA 2013's special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction. She has also served on task forces in Michigan and New Mexico charged with developing procedures to facilitate cross-jurisdictional enforcement of protection orders, and has taught seminars on domestic violence and protection orders throughout the United States for judges, attorneys, law enforcement, and victim advocates, including at the National Tribal Judicial Center. Between 1999 and 2006 she served as a judge on the Southwest Intertribal Court of Appeals. Professor Tatum joined the University of Arizona faculty in January 2009, after serving as a faculty member at the University of Tulsa for more than thirteen years.
Representative Publications
- Reading American Indian Law: Foundational Principles (forthcoming 2020) (co-editor, with Grant Christensen.
- Customary Law of Indigenous Communities: Making Space on the Global Environmental Stage, 9 Mich. J. Envtl. & Admin. L. ___ (forthcoming 2019).
- Reading Indian Law: Evaluating Thirty Years of Indian Law Scholarship, 54 Tulsa L. Rev. 81 (2018) (co-author, with Grant Christensen).
- Justice for Native Nations: Insights from Legal Pluralism, 60 Ariz. L. Rev. 91 (2018) (co-author, with Jennifer Hendry).
- Constitution as Dialogue: Legal Pluralism and the American Experience. in Constitutional Recognition of First Peoples in Australia: Theories and Comparative Perspectives 160 (Simon Young, Jennifer Nielsen, & Jeremy Patrick eds., 2016) (co-author, with Jennifer Hendry).
- Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, and the Pursuit of Justice, 34 Yale L. & Pol'y Rev. 351 (2016) (co-author, with Jennifer Hendry).
- Tribal Legal Code Resource: Tribal Laws Implementing TLOA Enhanced Sentencing and VAWA Enhanced Jurisdiction (2015) (co-author, with Maureen L. White Eagle & Chia Halpern Beetso).
- Law, Culture, & Environment (2014) (co-author, with Jill Kappus Shaw).
- Structuring Sovereignty: Constitutions of Native Nations (2014) (co-author, with Miriam Jorgensen, Mary Guss, & Sarah Deer).
- General Editor, Navajo Law Reporter, Vol. 8 (2008).
- Contributing Author, Cohen's Handbook of Federal Indian Law (2005).
- A Jurisdictional Quandary: Challenges Facing Tribal Governments in Implementing the Full Faith and Credit Provisions of the Violence Against Women Acts, 90 Ky. L.J. 123 (2001 - 2002).
- Complete List of Publications
Education
- J.D. University of Michigan Law School
1992
Graduated magna cum laude. - B.A. Trinity University
1989
Graduated magna cum laude.
Work Experience
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Research Professor of LawJames E. Rogers College of Law2014 - present
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Faculty, Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory; American Indian StudiesGraduate Interdisciplinary Programs, The University of Arizona2016 - present
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Affiliated Faculty, Gender and Women's StudiesThe University of Arizona2015 - present
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Research Professor of Law & Director, Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy ProgramJames E. Rogers College of Law2012 - 2014
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Research Professor of Law & Associate Director, Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy ProgramJames E. Rogers College of Law2009 - 2012
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Director, Dublin Study Abroad ProgramUniversity of Tulsa College of LawSummer 2002, 2006, & 2008
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Director, LL.M. Program in American Indian and Indigenous Law (previously Co-Director)University of Tulsa College of Law2002 - 2006
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Co-Director, the Native American Law CenterUniversity of Tulsa College of Law2000 - 2008
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JudgeSouthwest Intertribal Court of Appeals1999 - 2006
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Visiting Assistant Professor of LawWayne State University Law School1999 - 2000
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Visiting Assistant Professor of LawMichigan State University College of Law1998 - 1999
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Law Clerk to Judge Cornelia KennedyUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit1994 - 1995
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Law Clerk to Judge James RyanUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit1993 - 1994
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Law Clerk to U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven D. PepeUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan1992 - 1993
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Professor of Law (previously Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, & Visiting Assistant Professor)University of Tulsa College of Law1995 - 2008
Public & Institutional Service
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Graduate Student Advisor, Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy Program
2019 - present -
Member, Applied Intercultural Arts Research
2019 - present -
Chair, American Indian Studies Graduate Interdisciplinary Program
2018 -
Consultant, New Mexico Attorney General's Office Taskforce on Enforcement of Protection Orders2007 - 2010
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Consultant, Navajo Nation Rules Harmonization Project2007 - 2008
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Chair, AALS Section on Women in Legal Education2004 - 2005
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Secretary, AALS Section on Women in Legal Education2003 - 2004
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Judge, American Indian Law Review's Law Student Writing Competition2003
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Secretary, AALS Section on Indian Nations and Indigenous Peoples2002 - 2005
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Treasurer, AALS Section on Women in Legal Education2002 - 2003
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Member, Executive Committee, AALS Section on Criminal Justice2001 - 2003
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Chair, AALS Section on Indigenous Nations and Peoples2001 - 2002
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Program Chair, AALS Section on Indigenous Nations and Peoples2001 - 2002
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Member, Michigan joint federal/state/tribal task force to implement full faith and credit provisions of Violence Against Women Act2000 - 2001 (co-chair, subcommittee on tribal jurisdictional issues
Awards
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Special Teaching Recognition, Humanities Seminar Program2016
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Honoree, Fourth Annual Native Justice Powwow2009
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University of Tulsa College of Law Nominee for University Outstanding Teacher Award2007
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NALSA Faculty Sponsor of the Year Award2005
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University of Tulsa College of Law Nominee for University Outstanding Teacher Award2003, 2002
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University of Tulsa College of Law Upper Class Professor of the Year2003, 2002
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University of Tulsa College of Law Upper Class Professor of the Year2002, 2001