Indian Reservations Still Part Of USA Afterall

Righting another unintended consequence, the Supreme Court reversed in part an earlier decision arguably sheltering thousands of criminals from prosecution just because they did the dirty deed on tribal land.

As the WSJ headline read: “Supreme Court Restores Oklahoma’s Jurisdiction Over Non-Tribal crimes on Tribal Lands – Justices partially reverse 2020 [McGirt] ruling” that suddenly placed nearly half the state under Native-American jurisdiction” & required the transferring of thousands of cases from state courts to federal & tribal venues, which became overrun with backlogs.

What might be most remarkable is that the reversal was a 5-4 call, flipping the much-criticized McGirt decision by virtue of Justice Ginsburg’s death & a Trump replacement. Yet note, the dissent was written by conservative & Trump appointee Justice Gorsuch, who essentially said 19th Century treaties between the US & various Indian tribes must be upheld at any cost. But, as conservative & Trump appointee Justice Kavanaugh wrote this time for the new if slim majority: “Indian country is part of the State, not separate from the State,” despite century-old treaties & as has been the law since the days of Chief Justice John Marshall; at least, unless Congress expressly says otherwise. As a result, Oklahoma (and other states with Indian Reservations) retain the power to enforce its criminal laws and help victims within otherwise Indian land, now largely left without adequate recourse due to the alleged inability of the federal & tribal courts to dispense criminal justice.

Davd Soul