Media

Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta: Rebalancing Federal-State-Tribal Power

Thursday, July 7, 2022

Hosted by Indian Legal Program at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at ASU

Castro-Huerta v. Oklahoma and the Attack on Tribal Sovereignty: Where Do We Go From Here?

Wednesday, July 6, 2022

The Supreme Court upended two hundred years of settled law regarding criminal jurisdiction in Indian country last week in Castro-Huerta v. Oklahoma. In an opinion stemming from the McGirt case, the astonishing decision asserted that there is a presumption of state criminal jurisdiction that must be preempted in Indian country, undermining tribal sovereignty and threatening safety and security for Indian people. Join us for this webinar as we hear from the nation’s leading legal practitioners and scholars about how this case came to be and what we might expect in the wake of its holding.

• Riyaz Kanji, Partner, Katzen & Kanji P.L.L.C.

• Carole E. Goldberg, Jonathan D. Varat Distinguished Professor of Law Emerita, UCLA School of Law

• Sara Hill, Attorney General, Cherokee Nation

17th Annual Tribal In-House Counsel Association and the Indigenous Law and Policy Center at Michigan State University

November 13, 2020

The McGirt Decision

The Supreme Court’s ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma, 591 U.S. __, 140 S. Ct. 2452 (2020), marks a tremendous affirmation of Muscogee Creek treaty rights as well as a shift in the Court’s approach to key legal texts affecting Tribal sovereignty, powers, and responsibilities. This panel offers perspectives from Muscogee Creek’s lead advocate before the Supreme Court, a scholar and professor of Federal Indian law, and the chief in-house counsel from another of one of the Five Tribes.

• Riyaz Kanji, Partner, Katzen & Kanji P.L.L.C.

• Dylan Hedden-Nicely, Director, Native American Law Program, University of Idaho College of Law

• Sara Hill, Attorney General, Cherokee Nation

What Supreme Court's McGirt Ruling means for Oklahoma's Native tribes

September 16, 2020

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled recently that much of eastern Oklahoma remains Native land. The decision granted jurisdictional control for most criminal justice cases to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and four neighboring tribal nations. Now, members of Congress and tribal leaders are meeting to discuss issues facing Native Americans. Jeffrey Brown reports on the momentous impact of McGirt v. Oklahoma.

Native Nations Law & Policy Center and Critical Race Studies, Red Rising: Indigenous Peoples and Political Participation Series: McGirt v. Oklahoma: A Mvskoke Triumph

Wednesday, September 9, 2020

On July 9, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma, holding that the reservation boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, as articulated in its treaties with the United States, remained intact. While the decision was a simple application of the rule of law, it rocked a century of jurisdictional encroachment. This panel will explore the decision and its legal reasoning, and importantly, what a post-McGirt future entails for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and all of Indian country.

Moderated by Professor Angela R. Riley

Ambassador Jonodev Chaudhuri, Ambassador, Muscogee (Creek) Nation

Professor Sarah Deer, Professor, University of Kansas;

Dean Stacy Leeds, Dean Emeritus and Professor of Law at the University of Arkansas

UCLA School of Law Tribal Legal Development Clinic

Brown Bag Lunch Series

JUNE 26, 2020

McGirt Debrief

Riyaz Kanji, Kanji & Katzen and Matthew L.M. Fletcher, Professor of Law, Michigan State University

Moderated by:

Angela R. Riley, Director, Native Nations Law and Policy Center, UCLA School of Law and Lauren van Schilfgaarde, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Tribal Legal Development Clinic Director, UCLA School of Law

Sponsored by the UCLA School of Law Native Nations Law and Policy Center

Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs

August 11, 2020

The U.S. Supreme Court case McGirt v. Oklahoma raises far more jurisdictional issues than just who can prosecute major crimes. It may affect who pays what taxes, which businesses must adhere to what regulations, who is subject to tribal courts, and much more. Policy makers are just now beginning to sort through these issues.

Panelists include Andy Spiropoulos (Professor at Oklahoma City University Law School), A.J. Ferate (Attorney at Spencer Fane), and Rick Grellner (Attorney at RJG Law).

McGirt v. Oklahoma was a case argued before the Supreme Court of the United States on May 11, 2020, and addressed whether Oklahoma state courts had jurisdiction to try a citizen of the Creek Nation for criminal matters. On July 9, 2020, the court, in a 5-4 ruling, decided that under the Indian Major Crimes Act, lands reserved for the Creek Nation in eastern Oklahoma constituted Indian Country. As a result, the state of Oklahoma could not legally try a Creek citizen for criminal conduct in state court.

What does this ruling mean for Oklahoma’s Native American communities and for communities across the nation?

SAR hosted this conversation, led by SAR president Michael F. Brown, exploring this question and more.

Panelists:

Angela R. Riley (Citizen Potawatomi Nation)

Jonodev O. Chaudhuri (Muscogee Creek)