Law, College of
Nebraska Law Bulletin (Selected Issues)
Date of this Version
5-21-2020
Document Type
Article
Citation
Nebraska Law Bulletin (May 21, 2020)
Abstract
In 2017, the Tenth Circuit declared that the Muscogee (Creek) Nation continues to govern a large swarth of land in Eastern Oklahoma because Congress never stripped the Creek of jurisdiction. The issue before the court was whether the twentieth century policy of allotment removed tribal jurisdiction from the land in dispute. Following Supreme Court precedent established by Solem v. Bartlett, the court ruled that the Creek Nation persists. By implication, many legal scholars argue that since Congress’s treatment of the Creek resembled all Five Civilized Tribes, the State of Oklahoma lacks jurisdiction in nearly half of its current territory, including the city of Tulsa. The State of Oklahoma appealed. In November 2018, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments; however, in an unusual move, they ordered the parties to reargue the case in the 2019–20 term. The fate of Oklahoma remains in purgatory.
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