Oklahoma Struggles with McGirt Decision
Thursday 6th of May 2021
In July of last year, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the conviction of Jimcy McGirt of three serious sexual offenses. The decision, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, contended that, for the purposes of the Major Crimes Act, land in eastern Oklahoma remains a reservation for the Creek Nation. The 5-4 decision reversed a decision by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals which had said that all Indian courts had been abolished at statehood. Instead, the Supreme Court ruled that because McGirt was a Creek, he could only be prosecuted in Creek tribal courts, or in federal court.
Technically, the decision only directly affected McGirt, but the precedent set has created a cloud of uncertainty on the status of criminal law, taxation, and many other matters in lands once held by the Creek Nation. Additionally, it is expected that future litigation will lead to all of eastern Oklahoma which was once held by the Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Choctaw tribes being considered Indian land.