The Supreme Court expanded Oklahoma’s authority to prosecute crimes against Native Americans in much of the state Wednesday, potentially reducing the need for Congress to spend millions of dollars more in the state for the Justice Department and federal courts.
The 5-4 decision in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta means the state, along with the federal government and tribes, can prosecute crimes committed by non-Native Americans against Native Americans.
That will limit the effect of a 2020 opinion in McGirt v. Oklahoma, which found that Congress never dissolved the Muscogee Nation’s reservation that stretches over much of the state, including the city of Tulsa.
