The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a huge swath of the state of Oklahoma is Native American land for certain purposes, siding with a Native American man who had challenged his rape conviction by state authorities in the territory. The 5-4 decision, with an opinion authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, endorsed the claim of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation to the land, which encompasses three million acres, including most of the city of Tulsa. The decision means that only federal authorities, no longer state prosecutor, can lodge charges against Native Americans who commit serious alleged crimes on that land, which is home to 1. 8 million people. Of those people, 15% or fewer are Native Americans.''Today we are asked whether the land these treaties promised remains an Indian reservation for purposes of federal criminal law, '' Gorsuch wrote.''Because Congress has not said otherwise, we hold the government to its word, '' he wrote. The case hinged on application of the Major Crimes Act, which gives federal authorities, rather than state prosecutors, jurisdiction over crimes committed by or against Native Americans in Native American territory.''For MCA purposes, land reserved for the Creek Nation since the 19th century remains 'Indian country, ' '' Gorsuch wrote in the opinion. The conservative justice Gorsuch was joined in the majority by the court's four liberal justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Chief Justice John Roberts dissented from the ruling, as did his fellow conservatives, Clarence Thomas Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh. In his dissent, Roberts warned that ''across this vast area'' now deemed to be Native American land, ''the State's ability to prosecute serious crimes will be hobbled and decades of past convictions could well be thrown out. ''''On top of that, the Court has profoundly destabilized the governance of eastern Oklahoma, '' Roberts wrote. ''The decision today creates significant uncertainty for the State's continuing authority over any area that touches Indian affairs, ranging from zoning and taxation to family and environmental law. ''''None of this is warranted, '' Roberts added. ''What has gone unquestioned for a century remains true today: A huge portion of Oklahoma is not a Creek Indian reservation. Congress disestablished any reservation in a series of statutes leading up to Oklahoma statehood at the turn of the 19th century. The Court reaches the opposite conclusion only by disregardingthe 'well settled' approach required by our precedents. ''Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said, ''I am aware the ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma was handed down this morning by the U. S. Supreme Court. ''''My legal team has been following the case closely and is reviewing the decision carefully. They will advise our team on the case's impact and what action, if any, is needed from our office, '' Stitt said.
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