"The state of Oklahoma has won its latest round in a court fight with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Here’s hoping final judgment goes the state’s way, too. Late last week, a federal judge rejected the Creeks’ request for an injunction stopping the state from seizing nontaxed cigarettes sold by the tribe at some of its smoke shops. The tribe argues, among other things, that the state can’t regulate or enforce laws interfering with Indian-to-Indian commerce. But the judge found that at least one of the companies making the cigarettes isn’t tribally controlled, and that the state isn’t interfering in the Creeks’ sovereignty in seeking to collect the taxes. The state says the Creeks failed to pay nearly $13 million in tobacco excise taxes last year. That’s serious money and worth going to court over."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Worth the fight [fourth item] (The Oklahoman 3/27)

Related Stories:
Judge won't stop state from going after Creek cigarettes (3/24)
Oklahoma seizes tobacco bound for Muscogee shops (02/15)
Editorial: Oklahoma wins in tobacco battle (8/17)
Judge dismisses Muscogee tobacco lawsuit (8/11)
Muscogee Nation fights state over tobacco taxation (5/21)
Muscogee Nation cigarettes confiscated by state (5/14)