Supreme Court ruling affects more than 800 'Indian Country' criminal cases in Oklahoma
Sep 22, 2020 Updated 3 hrs ago
More than 800 criminal cases have been referred to federal prosecutors in Oklahoma since
a July Supreme Court ruling determined that much of northeastern Oklahoma is Indian Country
for criminal prosecution purposes.
About 175 of the 850 cases have resulted in an indictment or criminal complaint, officials said.
The remaining cases have either been referred to tribal courts or are still under review.
In Tulsa federal court, 279 cases have been referred to prosecutors for possible charges, said
Lennea Montandon, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Trent Shores’ office in the Northern District
of Oklahoma.
Of that number, prosecutors have assumed federal jurisdiction in 139 cases. Another 138 have
been sent to the Muskogee (Creek) Nation for possible prosecution in tribal court, and two cases
are still under consideration, Montandon said.
Of the 139 taken on by Tulsa federal prosecutors, the Tulsa World has identified about 61 criminal
cases that have been made public and are filed in Tulsa federal court.
Shores said the impact of the McGirt decision has been “substantial” and “immediate.”
“In the last two months, we’ve indicted more than 114 cases, whereas in a typical year, we
might indict 230,” Shores said. “This volume of cases is like nothing we’ve ever seen, but
my team is stepping up and getting the job done.
“I remain hopeful that more resources will soon be made available so that we can maintain
excellent public safety services and uphold our trust responsibility to the tribes.”
Meanwhile, 571 cases have been identified by federal prosecutors in the Muskogee-based
Eastern District of Oklahoma, where prosecutors for now are prioritizing cases where the
defendant was in state custody and the offense was considered a major crime, said Chris
Wilson, first assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District office.
Twenty-three of the 571 cases have been referred to tribal court, with “many, many more”
expected to travel that route, Wilson said.
The Supreme Court ruling that triggered all of the referrals involved Jimcy McGirt, a 71-year-old
American Indian who successfully argued that he should have been prosecuted for child sex
abuse crimes in federal court rather than state court, where he was convicted.
The July 9 Supreme Court decision determined that the Muscogee (Creek) Nation reservation
in eastern Oklahoma was never disestablished by Congress, meaning that since statehood
major crime cases involving American Indians that occurred within the Muscogee (Creek)
Nation reservation boundaries should have been filed in federal court rather than state.
The reservation boundaries include much of the city of Tulsa and all of south Tulsa County
and all or portions of 10 other counties.
The ruling has caused state prosecutors to dismiss cases prosecuted or being prosecuted
in state court that involved an American Indian for a crime in Indian Country.
https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/supreme-court-ruling-affects-more-than-800-indian-country-criminal-cases-in-oklahoma-so-far/article_ee591c26-fc32-11ea-b0d7-1fe32cb9baca.html