TULSA, Okla. — The Muscogee Creek Nation filed a lawsuit against the City of Tulsa for the prosecution of tribal citizens.
The Nation claims the city is unlawfully prosecuting Native people despite the McGirt ruling, which reaffirmed the Nation's reservation borders and that the state and their political subdivisions, i.e., the City of Tulsa, don't have criminal jurisdiction over Natives within those boundaries absent congressional authorization.
- Previous coverage >>> McGirt v. Oklahoma: How SCOTUS tribal ruling will impact crimes in Oklahoma
"Tulsa’s ongoing prosecutions, therefore, violate federal law, infringe on the rights of Tribal citizens within the Nation’s jurisdiction, and interfere with the Nation’s federally protected right to self-government, including the functioning of its own comprehensive and robust criminal justice system," the Nation said in a press release.
- Previous coverage >>> Supreme Court won't overrule McGirt decision, will argue crimes in Indian country
The McGirt v. Oklahoma decision led to several points of contention between the State and the Nations. The way the ruling is applied and who can prosecute the case also depends on whether the crime is considered a "major crime" under the Major Crimes Act, if the victim or suspect or both are Native, and where the crime took place.
“Our Nation has always been a leader in the fight to defend tribal sovereignty," said Principal Chief David Hill. "We continue to welcome government-to-government cooperation with the City of Tulsa. But we will not stand by and watch the City disregard our sovereignty and our own laws by requiring Muscogee and other tribal citizens to respond to citations in Tulsa city court because of the City’s make-believe legal theories.”
The Muscogee Nation and the City of Tulsa were most recently at odds in the Hooper v. Tulsa case, where a tribal resident received a $150 traffic ticket from Tulsa police and argued for it to be dismissed.
Hooper ultimately won the case.
2 News will update this story when we get a statement from the City of Tulsa on the lawsuit.
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