

Reflecting on What We Have Learned
Panel
2:30-3:45pm
Emcee will host a panel discussion where local practitioners are asked a series of questions and reflect on what they have learned, what Choctaw is doing well, and where Choctaw could improve.

Anna Marcy, Director, Family Violence Prevention Program, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Choctaw
Anna Marcy is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and has served as Director of the Family Violence Prevention Program since 2018. Prior to coming back to work for the Choctaw Nation in 2015, Anna worked for many years for the local domestic violence shelter program where she found her calling of working with survivors and their families. In addition to reactive services for survivors and families, Anna has focused on adding primary prevention services and education and awareness as major components of the Family Violence Prevention Program.
Session Materials
Anna Marcy (Choctaw) Director, Family Violence Prevention Program, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Anna Marcy is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and has served as Director of the Family Violence Prevention Program since 2018. Prior to coming back to work for the Choctaw Nation in 2015, Anna worked for many years for the local domestic violence shelter program where she found her calling of working with survivors and their families. In addition to reactive services for survivors and families, Anna has focused on adding primary prevention services and education and awareness as major components of the Family Violence Prevention Program.
Kara Bacon (Choctaw) Tribal Prosecutor, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Kara Bacon was raised in Bryan County and is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Southeastern Oklahoma State University and later earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Oklahoma College of Law with an emphasis Native American Law. After being admitted to the Oklahoma Bar, Ms. Bacon worked as an Assistant District Attorney for six (6) years in primarily Grady and Caddo Counties. In 2015, she was appointed and served another four (4) years as the First Assistant District Attorney for District Six (Grady, Stephens, Caddo and Jefferson Counties). During her tenure as a prosecutor for the State, she oversaw all cases including juvenile delinquent, deprived criminal felony and misdemeanor cases, and later primarily prosecuted violent crimes and sex crimes. As First Assistant she started the Grady County Coordinated Community Response Team and the Together We Heel walk to raise awareness about domestic violence and raised funds to provide services to victims of domestic violence. In April of 2019, Ms. Bacon joined the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma to serve as the Tribal Prosecutor. As Tribal Prosecutor, Ms. Bacon supervises Division Chiefs, Assistant Prosecutors, caseloads, and prosecutes sex crimes cases in Choctaw Nation Tribal Court. Additionally, Ms. Bacon serves on the Uniform Representation of Children and Parents in Cases Involving Abuse and Neglect Oversight Committee for the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Since the McGirt and Sizemore decisions, Ms. Bacon has overseen the expansion of the Tribal Prosecutor’s Office and developed practices and implemented procedures to prepare the Nation for the impact of the McGirt decision. As a result of the McGirt decision, and under Mrs. Bacon’s leadership, the volume of cases prosecuted has increased by 2753%.
Gina South (Choctaw) Juvenile Division Chief, Assistant Attorney, Office of Prosecution, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Gina M. South is the Juvenile Division Chief and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Gina graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law and shortly thereafter began teaching criminal justice, legal studies, and cultural diversity at Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama. During that time, Gina was admitted to the Alabama Bar Association, and became a member of the Volunteer Lawyers Association of Alabama, where she practiced pro bono family law. After 8 years at Faulkner, Gina left to become the State Director for the Alabama Network of Children’s Advocacy Centers (ANCAC), where she worked to strengthen the agency’s relationship with underserved communities, and increase children’s access to justice. During that time, the Children’s Advocacy Centers in Alabama increased from 28 to 33, and improved services to underserved communities. While at ANCAC, Gina became a board member and trainer with the Native American Children’s Alliance where she advocated for MDT cooperation between native communities and the MDTs that serve them. In 2017, Gina and her family relocated to Texas, where she was admitted to the State Bar of Texas, and practiced family law with an emphasis on child safety. In 2020, Gina was hired as an Assistant Prosecutor by her tribe, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. To assist in the prosecution of child abuse cases, Gina directed the conversion of the tribe’s existing Child Protection Team to a Multi-Disciplinary Team. The Multi-Disciplinary Team is the first tribal MDT in the state of Oklahoma to achieve accreditation with the National Children’s Alliance, and also the first tribal MDT in Oklahoma to gain membership with the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Oklahoma. It is Gina’s greatest honor to work on behalf of children, and to improve her community's response to child maltreatment.
Judge Amy Pierce (Choctaw)
District Court Judge, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Judge Amy Pierce is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation. Most recently she was a partner at Hampton Barhols Pierce, PLLC in Oklahoma City, where she worked as both a litigator in federal and state courts and served as a mediator and arbitrator. She earned her Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from Oklahoma City University after receiving her Bachelors of Science in Agricultural Communications from Oklahoma State University. While in law school, she was the recipient of the Ernest L. Wilkinson Excellence in Indian Law Award. Judge Pierce also completed the Harvard Negotiation Institute program through the Harvard Law School. She has been voted a “Top 25 Women in Law” recipient in the State of Oklahoma by Super Lawyers, among numerous other honors. She is currently the chair for the Tribal Judges subcommittee of the Judiciary Division of the Federal Bar Association and has held leadership positions with the Oklahoma County and Choctaw Nation Bar Associations. She also previously served on the boards of the Oklahoma 4-H Foundation and Angels Family Foster Network.
Diane Hammons (Choctaw) Chief District Judge, Quapaw Nation
Diane Hammons is a retired Associate Professor from the Department of Criminology, Justice Studies, and Global Security at Northeastern State University. She is also a federal contractor for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and has just completed work as a technical writer for the Not Invisible Act Commission. Hammons has focused primarily on tribal law and criminal law issues throughout her career. She served as Attorney General of the Cherokee Nation from July 2006 - January 2012. Prior to that she worked as General Counsel, Director of the Justice Department, Prosecutor, and Public Defender in her 17 year career at the Nation. Previously, she was an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Oklahoma in the criminal division of that office, doing primarily death penalty work. During her tenure at the Oklahoma Attorney Generals office, she was responsible for dozens of published cases from the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, the Oklahomafederal courts, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court, where she argued and won the case of Romano v. Oklahoma in 1994.