The Eufaula Indian Journal

service 1.77 inches of rain fell. See WHOLE HAWG, page A3

Jul Conviction to be set aside in light

16

2020
of Supreme Court decision
Page The high court’s hearing had its roots
A001
Clip
in McIntosh County
resized
73%
JERRY FINK last year in-
From MANAGING EDITOR volving the
A002
Convicted child rapist appeal by
Jimcy McGirt will get a conv ic te d
new trial following a mo- killer Pat-
mentous decision by the rick Mur-
U.S. Supreme Court on phy.
July 9. M u r - Murphy
McGirt, serving 500 phy was
es years each for rape and convicted in McIntosh
n- molestation and life County District Court of
he without parole for forc- the 1999 murder and dis-
m- ible sodomy, appealed memberment of George
e. his 1997 conviction in Jacobs Sr., 49, near Hen-
as Wagoner County District ryetta in a rural area of
we Court and the appeal the county.
o made its way to the Su- Murphy, a member of
preme Court. the Muscogee (Creek)
a- The appeal was based Nation, appealed the
ds on the contention by Mc- conviction, arguing that
e, Girt that he is an enrolled the State of Oklahoma
s, member of the Muscogee had no right to prosecute
ee (Creek) Nation and the him because he is a Na-
re Seminole Nation and that tive American and the
he the alleged crimes took crime occurred on a res-
place on Native American ervation.
ee land in Wagoner County. Murphy’s lawyer, Ian
d Although the McGirt Gershengorn, said the
0 case was heard this year crime occurred in an
by the Supreme Court,
A3 an earlier case was heard See MURPHY, page A2

Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
 The Eufaula Indian Journal
MURPHY
from page A1
area of Eastern Oklaho-
ma granted to the Creek
Nation by the Federal
Government in 1866, and
Jul the area is still considered
an Indian Reservation
16 because it was never dis-
established by Congress.
Therefore, Murphy’s case
should have been tried in
2020 federal court, according
to Gershengorn.
Although the Supreme
Court held a hearing last
Page year on Murphy’s appeal,
A002 it did not make a ruling,
instead turning its atten-
tion to McGirt this year.
Clip McGirt’s appeal was
resized based on the same is-
31% sues put forth by Mur-
phy, arguing that as an
enrolled member of fed-
erally recognized tribes
– the Seminole and Mus-
cogee (Creek) Nations
- the state of Oklahoma
couldn’t prosecute him,
according to the Major
Crimes Act of 1885.
That law states the fed-
eral government alone
has the authority to pros-
ecute any major crime
committed by an en-
rolled member of a tribe
on their own reservation.
The high court, in a
5-4 decision, ruled that
the land in question in
the McGirt case was part
of the Muscogee (Creek)
Nation’s original reserva-
tion dating back to 1866
and that the area contin-
ued to be part of the res-
ervation for purposes of
criminal prosecution.
The justices invalidat-
ed McGirt’s state court
conviction.
Assuming there will be
a trial in federal court, it
will be prosecuted by the
U.S. Attorney’s office in
the U.S. District Court’s
Eastern District of Okla-
homa in Muskogee.
When a trial might
take place is hard to say.
“This is a work in
progress,” First Assistant
United States Attorney
Christopher Wilson said
following the Supreme
Court decision.
Wilson said his office
is waiting for a mandate
from the Supreme Court
before taking any action.
Potentially, the rever-
sal of McGirt’s conviction
could have far-reaching
effects in state and federal
courts as far as criminal
prosecution goes.
Possibly hundreds of
cases prosecuted over the
years by the state involv-
ing Indians on what the
Supreme Court calls In-
dian could be overturned
and retried in federal
court.
Although McGirt’s case
is specific to the Musco-
gee (Creek) Nation, the
Court’s decision is likely
to also apply to reserva-
tions of the Cherokee,
Choctaw, Chickasaw and
Seminole Nations.
The Muscogee (Creek)
Nation boundaries com-
poses three million acres
in Eastern Oklahoma, in-
cluding most of the city
of Tulsa.
The boundaries for
all five nations consist of
over 19 million acres and
nearly the entire eastern
half of Oklahoma.
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
When Oklahoma be-
came a state in 1907
federal territorial courts
transferred all non-fed-
eral cases involving Na-
tive Americans to state
courts.
While the Supreme
Court ruling addressed a
criminal matter, it could
have implications for civil
matters as well.
“This (decision)
doesn’t have any direct
implications on civil mat-
ters,” Wilson said.
But, he couldn’t say if it
might down the road.
“I have no expertise on
that matter,” he said. “Our
concern is the criminal
jurisdiction.”
However, after the Su-
preme Court agreed to
hear the Murphy case
last year, Oklahoma At-
torney General Mike
Hunter stated, “This case
has implications for mil-
lions of Oklahomans…
Meanwhile, my team and
I will continue proactive-
ly working with our tribal
partners on our shared
interests.”
In an interview with
the Tulsa World shortly
after the Supreme Court
ruling, Indian law expert
Mike McBride III, said, “I
think this is the most im-
portant decision in Okla-
homa history in terms of
sovereignty for the state
of Oklahoma and sover-
eignty for the five tribes.”
But, he told the World,
he doesn’t believe there
will be a flood of appeals
by tribal members seek-
ing to overturn their state
convictions.
“There may be many
cases where there’s a Na-
tive American who had
committed a crime on
Indian lands, or Indian
Country under the Major
Crimes Act statute, that
is in jail or prison and
would want to challenge
that conviction,” Mc-
Bride, an attorney with
Crowe & Dunlevy said.
“But they have to weigh
how long is that going to
take and ‘if I get retried in
federal court is the federal
sentence potentially go-
ing to be worse than what
I’m serving already?’ ”
Following the Supreme
Court’s announcement
in the McGirt case, the
Muscogee (Creek) Na-
tion released the follow-
ing statement:
“The Muscogee
(Creek) Nation respects
and welcomes the Court’s
decision calling for ad-
ditional argument. The
Nation remains steadfast
in its conviction that the
1866 Creek Reservation
has never been disestab-
lished and very much
looks forward to this
opportunity to present
further arguments to the
Court this Fall.
“In the meantime, the
Nation will continue to
serve all citizens within
its borders, Indian and
non-Indian alike, to
make its strong economic
impact felt within Okla-
homa which exceeded
$860 million in 2017; and
to enjoy a positive and
productive relationship
with the State of Okla-
homa.”