The consequences of the McGirt decision, which places the responsibility for much legal proceedings against Indians in Oklahoma under tribal authority, is evidently becoming a bit concerning for Oklahomans:
A year after losing the legal fight over the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s reservation, the state of Oklahoma urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to overrule the McGirt decision and return criminal jurisdiction over Native Americans in eastern Oklahoma to state prosecutors and judges.
“Simply put, the fundamental sovereignty of an American State is at stake,” Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor told the high court in a brief filed Friday. [The Oklahoman]
Which is an interesting observation for a state-wide phenomenon, actually. This raises a red flag for me:
“The Supreme Court clearly did not intend for the decision to be read more broadly than the McGirt facts, but the Biden administration has distorted that ruling,” O’Connor said.
Which may or may not be true – but in a highly conservative state, issuing that sort of remark suggests this may be a political attack, rather than an honest legal observation. And the tribes may be thinking the same thing:
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr., said O’Connor and Gov. Kevin Stitt were trying to undermine cooperation among tribes, the state and federal prosecutors in the wake of the McGirt decision.
“With today’s filing in Bosse v. Oklahoma, they have made clear this was never about protecting victims or stopping crime, but simply advancing an anti-Indian political agenda,” Hoskin said. “The governor has never attempted to cooperate with the tribes to protect all Oklahomans. It is perfectly clear that it has always been his intent to destroy Oklahoma’s reservations and the sovereignty of Oklahoma tribes, no matter what the cost might be.”
Ascertaining exactly what’s going on may require twenty years and the services of a disinterested historian, to be honest, because there’s a lot of emotion on both sides of the issue. I remain convinced this was a decision of immense importance, and it was decided properly. But will it be reversed? Time will tell.
