Last week’s Supreme Court ruling on the McGirt vs Oklahoma case will have little immediate effect on Pottawatomie and Lincoln County, according to Truman Carter., the founder of the Indian Country Development Center.
Carter, who focuses on Indian law issues, said the ruling will not impact the everyday lives of local people.
This case was specific to the Muskogee (Creek) Nation and their reservation.
According to the Supreme Court of the United States Opinion delivered by Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, “Each tribe’s treaties must be considered on their own terms, and the only question before us concerns the Creeks.”
Carter said this has nothing to do with taxes since it was a criminal case.
According to the Supreme Court Opinion presented by Justice Gorsuch, “The only question before us, however, concerns the statutory definition of ‘Indian Country’ as it applies in federal criminal law under the MCA, and often nothing requires other civil statues or regulations...”
Jimcy McGirt was tried and convicted in Oklahoma State court in 1997 with rape lewd molestation and forcible sodomy of a four year old girl.
According to the Supreme Court Opinion presented by Justice Gorsuch, “State courts generally have no jurisdiction to try Indians for conduct committed in ‘Indian country.’”
McGirt appealed his case, resting on the federal Major Crimes Act (MCA).
According to the Supreme Court Opinion presented by Justice Gorsuch, the MCA states that any Indian who commits an offense on Indian territory “shall be subject to the same law and penalties … within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States.”
Carter said the ruling was to answer who had the authority to convict a Native American on Native American land in federal criminal law, specific to the Muskogee (Creek) reservation.
The Supreme Court ruled that it was the United States Federal government, not the individual states.
The Supreme Court also ruled that the Muskogee (Creek) Nation has always had a reservation and that it was never disestablished.
“In all this history there simply arrived no moment when any Act of Congress dissolved the Creek Tribe or disestablished its reservation,” Gorsuch said in the Supreme Court Opinion.
District Judge John Canavan said the ruling will mean “Indians committing crimes on Indian land can only be prosecuted by the federal government.”
“It’s even a little more narrow than that. Major involved tribes and the state already have issued a joint statement. This could have impact on businesses, contracts, taxation, real property, ownership, all kinds of things.”
On Monday, Pottawatomie and Lincoln Counties District Allan Grubb commented on the ruling.
“Our district has very little land from the civilized tribes, and therefore the effect here will be minimal. This case specifically only applies to The Muskogee Creek Nation and criminally jurisdiction only at this point, but be clear, this case does affirm the land in their area under the original Treaty as a reservation.
“So, we as a State are probably looking at reservation lands like you would see in Arizona and New Mexico instead of whether the land is Trust land or not.”
Within a short time of the ruling, the state and the Muscogee (Creek), Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole Nations, the five Civilized Tribes, issued this statement, saying they “have made substantial progress toward an agreement to present to Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice addressing and resolving any significant jurisdictional issues raised by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma.
“The Nations and the State are committed to ensuring that Jimcy McGirt, Patrick Murphy, and all other offenders face justice for the crimes for which they are accused. We have a shared commitment to maintaining public safety and longterm economic prosperity for the Nations and Oklahoma.
“The Nations and the State are committed to implementing a framework of shared jurisdiction that will preserve sovereign interests and rights to self-government while affirming jurisdictional understandings, procedures, laws, and regulations that support public safety, our economy, and private property rights. We will continue our work, confident that we can accomplish more together than any of us could alone.”