{"id":25782,"date":"2022-06-29T19:42:08","date_gmt":"2022-06-29T23:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=25782"},"modified":"2026-04-01T20:32:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T01:32:27","slug":"niwrc-supreme-court-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/06\/29\/niwrc-supreme-court-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"‘An increase in violence against Native victims”: NIWRC raises alarms about U.S. Supreme Court decision"},"content":{"rendered":" \"U.S.<\/a>
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen behind barricades on June 26, 2022. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
NIWRC Concerned With SCOTUS Castro-Huerta Ruling Expanding State Criminal Jurisdiction in Indian Country<\/div>\r\n
Wednesday, June 29, 2022<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n The following is the text of a June 29, 2022, news release from the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center<\/a>.<\/em>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Indigenous Women\u2019s Resource Center (NIWRC) is extremely concerned with today\u2019s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta<\/em><\/a>, declaring in a 5-4 opinion authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh that, for the first time in United States history, states have the authority to exercise criminal jurisdiction over crimes committed against Native victims on tribal lands.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cThe Supreme Court\u2019s decision to simply grant the State of Oklahoma criminal jurisdiction over crimes committed against Native victims on tribal lands fails to take into consideration the rights and voices of Native victims, as expressed in the amicus brief<\/a> that we filed with the Court,\u201d said Lucy Simpson, Din\u00e9, NIWRC Executive Director. \u201cIn the few instances where Congress has granted states criminal jurisdiction over crimes against Native victims on tribal lands, we have seen a decrease in prosecutions of crimes committed against Native victims and an increase in violence against Native victims. This decision will undoubtedly result in an increase in violent crimes being committed in Indian country.\u201d\r\n

<\/P>\r\nPrior to today, the Supreme Court and lower federal courts have consistently held that states may only exercise such criminal authority over tribal lands if and when Congress grants them that jurisdiction. Castro-Huerta<\/em><\/a> is one of more than thirty petitions that Oklahoma has filed in the last two years asking the Court to reconsider its decision in McGirt<\/em><\/a>, a 2020 decision that affirmed the continued existence of the Muscogee Nation Reservation. In granting cert in Castro-Huerta, the Court denied Oklahoma\u2019s request to reconsider McGirt, but did grant cert to consider whether Oklahoma should be judicially granted jurisdiction over tribal lands. Notably, in his dissent, Justice Neil Gorsuch cited the NIWRC\u2019s amicus brief<\/a>, made possible through its VAWA Sovereignty Initiative<\/a>.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cThe Court\u2019s decision not only contradicts the plain language in the United States Constitution and prior Court precedent, it also significantly jeopardizes the safety and welfare of Native women and children who live on tribal lands,\u201d said Mary Kathryn Nagle, Cherokee Nation, NIWRC Counsel and Co-Author of the NIWRC\u2019s amicus brief in the case. \u201cWhen considered in combination with the Court\u2019s 1978 decision in Oliphant<\/em>, the Court has taken away tribal jurisdiction to protect Native women and children and given that jurisdiction to the States. Nothing is more colonial and harmful than telling Native women and children they will not be protected by their own Tribal Nations, but rather, must seek refuge in the courts of the States that have, historically and still to this day, sought to exterminate them.\u201d\r\n

<\/P>\r\nJustice Kavanaugh, in writing for the majority, states that granting Oklahoma this sort of criminal jurisdiction over tribal lands is necessary because, as a result of McGirt, \u201cthe State estimates that it will have to transfer prosecutorial responsibility for more than 18,000 cases per year to the Federal and Tribal Governments.\u201d However, a recent article published in The Atlantic<\/a> revealed that Oklahoma\u2019s numbers are unsubstantiated, if not completely fabricated.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cMcGirt affirmed the inherent right of Tribal Nations to exercise criminal jurisdiction to protect Native victims across all tribal lands. It has resulted in increased safety for Native victims living on tribal lands,\u201d said Sarah Deer, Muscogee Nation, Co-Author of the NIWRC amicus brief. \u201cInstead of collaborating with Tribal Nations to ensure smooth implementation of McGirt and safety for Native victims, the State of Oklahoma has spent millions of dollars to hire lawyers and PR firms to wage a campaign to get McGirt overturned. It is disheartening to witness the Supreme Court divorcing itself from the plain letter of the law and instead deferring to Oklahoma\u2019s baseless propaganda.\u201d\r\n

<\/P>\r\nCastro-Huerta, a non-Indian, had been charged with criminal neglect with regards to his stepdaughter, a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Castro-Huerta committed his crime against a Cherokee child, within the borders of the Cherokee Nation. However, instead of discussing the sovereign interest a Tribal Nation maintains to protect a child citizen, Justice Kavanaugh justified his decision to grant the State criminal jurisdiction over the crime based on the premise that \u201c[t]he only parties to the criminal case are the State and the non-Indian defendant.\u201d \r\n

<\/P>\r\nNowhere in the Court\u2019s majority opinion was consideration for the rights of a Native child to be protected by her own Tribal Nation\u2014a right that Congress recently restored in the 2022 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. \r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cWe are very thankful that, just three months ago, Congress passed a partial fix to Oliphant<\/em> and restored tribal criminal jurisdiction over non-Indian crimes committed against Native children on tribal lands,\u201d said Kerri Colfer, Tlingit, NIWRC\u2019s Senior Native Affairs Advisor. \u201cIt is discouraging, however, that the Supreme Court sees this as only involving the rights of a State and a non-Indian defendant. As Congress recently recognized, when a Native child is abused on tribal lands, no sovereign has a greater interest in protecting that child than her Tribal Nation. The Court\u2019s decision today disregards the connection between tribal sovereignty and safety for Native children and, instead, recycles the same colonial framework that has only served to harm Native people in the past. It is, unfortunately, a step back from some of the Court\u2019s more recent decisions.\u201d\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

About the National Indigenous Women\u2019s Resource Centers<\/strong><\/div>\r\nThe National Indigenous Women\u2019s Resource Center, Inc. (NIWRC) is a Native-led nonprofit organization dedicated to ending violence against Native women and children. NIWRC provides national leadership in ending gender-based violence in tribal communities by lifting up the collective voices of grassroots advocates and offering culturally grounded resources, technical assistance and training, and policy development to strengthen tribal sovereignty. The filing of the Castro-Huerta amicus brief was made possible through NIWRC\u2019s VAWA Sovereignty Initiative<\/a>, a project focusing on the defense of the constitutionality and functionality of all VAWA tribal provisions, as well as the inherent authority of Indian Nations to protect Native women. niwrc.org<\/a>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

U.S. Supreme Court Decision in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta<\/em><\/div>\r\nSyllabus<\/a> |\r\nOpinion [Kavanaugh]<\/a> |\r\nDissent [Gorsuch]<\/a> |\r\nComplete Document<\/a>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

U.S. Supreme Court Documents in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta<\/em><\/div>\r\nQuestions Presented<\/a> | \r\nDocket Sheet: No. 21-429<\/a> | \r\nOral Argument Transcript<\/a> |\r\nDay Call<\/a>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

\r\n
Syllabus – Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta<\/em><\/div>\r\n21-429_8o6a-syllabus<\/a> \r\n<\/div><\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

\r\n
Opinion [Kavanaugh] – Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta<\/em><\/div>\r\n21-429_8o6a-opinion<\/a> \r\n<\/div><\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

\r\n
Dissent [Gorsuch] – Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta<\/em><\/div>\r\n21-429_8o6a-dissent<\/a> \r\n<\/div><\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

\r\n
Full Document – Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta<\/em><\/div>\r\n21-429_8o6a<\/a> \r\n<\/div><\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

Related Stories<\/div>\r\n
U.S. Supreme Court decision in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta<\/a> (June 29, 2022)<\/div>\r\n
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Supreme Court confirms leak as \u2018authentic\u2019 amid uncertainty for Indian Country<\/a> (May 3, 2022)<\/div>
SCOTUSblog: Supreme Court takes up Indian Country jurisdiction case<\/a> (May 2, 2022)<\/div>
Gaylord News: Tribes united as Supreme Court takes up sovereignty case<\/a> (April 28, 2022)<\/div>
U.S. Supreme Court \u2013 Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta<\/a> (April 27, 2022)<\/div>
Gaylord News: Oklahoma tribes defend sovereignty as Supreme Court weighs big case<\/a> (April 26, 2022)<\/div>
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\r\nSupreme Court hears cases with high stakes for Indian Country<\/a> (February 21, 2022)
\r\nGaylord News: Supreme Court takes another look at Indian Country dispute<\/a> (January 31, 2022)
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\r\nSupreme Court surprises by taking up contentious Indian law case<\/a> (January 21, 2022)","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“This decision will undoubtedly result in an increase in violent crimes being committed in Indian Country,” said Lucy Simpson of the National Indigenous Women\u2019s Resource Center.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25787,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,13,1,14],"tags":[748,828,77,101,397,2847,511,1495,1378,243,429,359,127,3071,220,84,154,455,44,102],"class_list":["post-25782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indian-trust","category-law","category-national","category-politics","tag-abuse","tag-brett-kavanaugh","tag-cherokee","tag-crime","tag-jurisdiction","tag-kerri-colfer","tag-law-enforcement","tag-lucy-simpson","tag-mary-kathryn-nagle","tag-media","tag-neil-gorsuch","tag-niwrc","tag-oklahoma","tag-sarah-deer","tag-sovereignty","tag-supreme-court","tag-treaties","tag-vawa","tag-women","tag-youth","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/29\/SupremeCourt-scaled.jpeg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-6HQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25782"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":473107,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25782\/revisions\/473107"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}