Justice Department steps in on Tulsa and Creek Nation's jurisdiction dispute
TULSA, OKLA. (KTUL) — The federal government is weighing in on a jurisdiction dispute between the City of Tulsa and tribal governments.
We’re talking about Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s lawsuit against the city, regarding criminal prosecutions.
The United States Department of Justice filed a motion to intervene in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s lawsuit against Tulsa and they filed a proposed complaint against Tulsa, alleging that it has unlawfully asserted criminal jurisdiction against tribal members within the Muscogee (Creek) Reservation.
"If the Department of Justice or the United States believes that they have an interest in the lawsuit that's not represented, they can intervene on behalf of the plaintiff, in this case, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation," said Trevor Reynolds with Frasier, Frasier & Hickman.
The United States Department of Justice has filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit between the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the City of Tulsa.
"What they are doing is they're saying in their motion to intervene that they have an interest in this case that the Creek Nation cannot adequately defend or preserve," said Reynolds.
Muscogee (Creek) Nation filed this suit against the City of Tulsa on November 15th, alleging that Tulsa is deliberately and unlawfully prosecuting tribal citizens for conduct occurring within the Nation’s reservation boundaries despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma, that states and their political subdivisions have no criminal jurisdiction over Indians within those boundaries without congressional authorization.
Trevor Reynolds with a local law firm, which is not involved with this case, said the Department of Justice is getting involved to protect constitutional rights.
"The United States is saying that the case law supports their claim that their rights are superior and that the tribal rights are superior to the city's rights," said Reynolds.
The Department of Justice also filed a proposed complaint against Tulsa, alleging that it has unlawfully asserted criminal jurisdiction against tribal members within the Muscogee (Creek) Reservation.
"The allegation against the city of Tulsa is basically that the city of Tulsa is illegally citing tribal members on sovereign Indian land, which is against the holdings in the McGirt decision and the cases that have fallen from that," said Reynolds.
Reynolds clarifies that the issue isn’t with city officers enforcing the law.
"The city of Tulsa can enforce the law for tribal citizens under the current cross-deputization agreements they have, but they cannot prosecute tribal members," said Reynolds.
This cross-deputization agreement comes from the McGirt ruling.
"The city can write tickets on behalf of the Creek Nation, city police can, but those crimes, if you're a tribal member, have to be prosecuted in the Creek Nation court," said Reynolds.
Reynolds says that Muscogee (Creek) Nation believes that the City of Tulsa isn’t following the cross-deputization agreement and therefore not honoring the decision made by the McGirt ruling.