KOSU:
Eighteen months after a landmark ruling said the state of Oklahoma doesn’t have jurisdiction on tribal reservations in Oklahoma, the nation’s high court will decide if they want to reconsider the decision. Justices have received a barrage of petitions from the state to overturn the McGirt v. Oklahoma decision or at least allow it to have the ability to prosecute non-native citizens when they commit crimes inside tribal boundaries.
The court is considering all of that at a conference on Jan. 7. Justices could allow the McGirt v. Oklahoma ruling to stand, give Oklahoma concurrent jurisdiction in some cases or overturn the July 2020 decision. They are also considering whether to allow cases prior to McGirt to be reconsidered, possibly overturning a lower court decision from last summer that said McGirt was not retroactive.
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt told KOSU in July 2021 that the McGirt decision has made Oklahoma ‘lawless’, and in an address to the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, he said it is the biggest problem facing the state.