The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a large swath of Oklahoma belongs to Native American tribes in a huge win for a reservation that challenged the state's authority to prosecute crimes on its land.Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for a 5-4 majority, ruling that disputed area that covers roughly half of the state actually belongs to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
"Today we are asked whether the land these treaties promised remains an Indian reservation for purposes of federal criminal law," Gorsuch wrote. "Because Congress has not said otherwise, we hold the government to its word."
The ruling could upend the state's authority over much of the land and restrict it from prosecuting tribal members who commit crimes on the reservation. LINK
UPDATE
From CNBC
The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a huge swath of the state of
Oklahoma is Native American land for certain purposes, siding with a
Native American man who had challenged his rape conviction by state
authorities in the territory.
The 5-4 decision, with an opinion
authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, endorsed the claim of the Muscogee
(Creek) Nation to the land, which encompasses three million acres,
including most of the city of Tulsa.
The
decision means that only federal authorities, no longer state
prosecutor, can lodge charges against Native Americans who commit
serious alleged crimes on that land, which is home to 1.8 million
people. Of those people, 15% or fewer are Native Americans.
“Today
we are asked whether the land these treaties promised remains an Indian
reservation for purposes of federal criminal law,” Gorsuch wrote.
“Because Congress has not said otherwise, we hold the government to its word,” he wrote.
The
case hinged on application of the Major Crimes Act, which gives federal
authorities, rather than state prosecutors, jurisdiction over crimes
committed by or against Native Americans in Native American territory.
“For
MCA purposes, land reserved for the Creek Nation since the 19th century
remains ‘Indian country,’ ” Gorsuch wrote in the opinion.
The
conservative justice Gorsuch was joined in the majority by the court’s
four liberal justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia
Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
Chief Justice John Roberts dissented
from the ruling, as did his fellow conservatives, Clarence Thomas Samuel
Alito and Brett Kavanaugh.
1 comment:
I've read a little about this and the conflict in the decision is a real kick.
First the claim that it is Indian land and full subject matter and personal jurisdiction is in the hands of the feds just as it would be in any federal enclave or territory.
Second is the argument that all claims to exclusive jurisdiction ended with statehood (1907).
They have opened a great can of worms all in the name of a nasty child molester. Maybe this is a step to clearing up the false claims of jurisdiction asserted by federal employees.
Remember that the Indian reservation (Indian Territory) label is the place of the end of the Trail of Tears (1830+) so there is some really awful history involved as well.
It also looks like every American Indian in this part of Oklahoma now owns part ofn Tulsa and a couple of oil wells and gas wells too.
My vote is in favor of the jurisdiction of the central government evaporating with the approval of statehood of any state.
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