US The Supreme Court on Monday gave stand to a lower court ruling that held that McGurt v. Oklahoma cannot be applied retrospectively. The High Court dismissed all the three petitions seeking reversal of the earlier judgment on the cases seeking relief after conviction. Only cases after July 9, 2020 are eligible for hearing again.
The court also decided to hear all subsequent petitions after McGurt. Those pending 33 petitions asking the Supreme Court to either overturn McGurt v. Oklahoma or narrowly rule that the state can share concurrent jurisdiction could be on next week's order list.
Monday was one of the last days SCOTUS could issue orders to deny or grant petitions in court.
The landmark decision in McGurt v Oklahoma held that the Muskogee Nation reservations were never terminated and criminal jurisdiction was returned to the tribal nation. This means that felony cases involving Native Americans must be tried in federal or tribal court when they are on reservation land.
Fght over tribal sovereignty
Joseph Bird, the tribal president of the Quapaw Nation, said that what is at stake with the Supreme Court's decision is tribal sovereignty.
“The court is tasked with addressing whether the rule of law still rules or if treaties can be broken as they have throughout their history,” Byrd told Kosu.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruled in October that McGurt's ruling overtook Five Tribes. The court ruled that the reservation of the Kwapa Nation was never displaced.
Whatever the outcome, Quapa Nation is working to make their reservations safer by implementing new codes and investing in its criminal justice system, Bayard said.
So far, the Quapaw Nation has cross-deputation agreements with the city of Quapaw, Ottawa County and Cherokee County in Kansas. Since October, he has doubled his caseload for criminal cases and tripled his caseload for protective orders. They have increased their court docket days from twice a month to four docket days a month and are looking at adding another docket as they continue to see an increase in the number of cases.
“Our next steps continue to evolve our tribal code, judiciary, courts and even detention as we remain committed to public safety within our reservations,” Bird said. "This is tribal sovereignty."
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has said the ruling has created "chaos" and the crimes are going unpunished, and state Attorney General John O'Connor has filed a plethora of appeals to reverse or modify the ruling.
In a statement released to the press, Okla. Attorney General John O'Connor said the Supreme Court's decision was "a major victory for the state of Oklahoma".
But the affected tribal nations say this is not anarchy. He has prosecuted thousands of crimes and changed criminal codes and agreements with local police.
David Hill, principal chief of the Muskogee Nation, said, "The time has passed for the government to stop its political campaign of stuttering and work with us to embrace a better future. I hope the Supreme Court does this. Will take the opportunity to tell him so."
McGartt Petitions, a breakdown
Of the 45 petitions filed by the state, 33 were distributed to judges for consideration at the January 7, 2022 convention of the Court on December 8.
Five of these petitions present both questions: narrowly rule that the state has concurrent jurisdiction and completely reverse McGurt v. Oklahoma.
Additionally, Wallace's petitions deal directly with whether McGurt's decision applies to crimes that occurred prior to the July 9, 2020 ruling.
Fifteen defendants petitioned Wallace to review the decision of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, asking the question of whether McGurt should also be applied in instances where prior to the court's decision on July 9, 2020 One sentence was final.
Three of these petitions were distributed to the justices on Monday for consideration at the Court's conference of January 7, 2022.
McGurt is a change in the way Oklahoma operates the criminal justice system. This has created a greater financial burden on tribal nations as they have had to increase their criminal justice budgets. Last year, all tribal countries called on the federal government to increase funding allocated for criminal justice. Five Tribes leaders say it is part of their federal trust responsibility.
Additionally, for the Northern District, the U.S. The attorney's office has sought more money in the wake of the decision, as their cases have increased. Five Tribes has also extended their cross-deputation agreements and hired more tribal police officers in the wake of the decision.