{"id":463,"date":"2020-08-13T21:12:28","date_gmt":"2020-08-14T01:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/supremecourt\/?p=463"},"modified":"2020-08-13T21:13:24","modified_gmt":"2020-08-14T01:13:24","slug":"cherokee-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/z\/supremecourt\/2020\/08\/13\/cherokee-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"Cherokee Nation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. has established a new commission to make funding and resource recommendations and examine other related areas in the wake of the historic United States Supreme Court McGirt decision. Photo courtesy Cherokee Nation<\/p><\/div>\n

Chief Hoskin establishes sovereignty commission in wake of McGirt decision<\/h2>\n

August 13th, 2020<\/span><\/h2>\n

TAHLEQUAH, Okla.<\/strong> \u2014\u00a0Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. has established a new commission to make funding and resource recommendations and examine other related areas in the wake of the historic United States Supreme Court McGirt decision.<\/p>\n

Chief Hoskin signed an executive order today that establishes the Commission for the Protection of Cherokee Nation Sovereignty.<\/p>\n

In addition, Chief Hoskin proposed the Cherokee Nation Reservation, Judicial Expansion and Sovereignty Protection Act for Tribal Council approval. It authorizes the Cherokee Nation to apply for federal funding for expanded staffing and resources and to bring in court referees to help on assigned cases as the workload increases.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must begin taking steps to expand\u00a0our Marshal Service, Attorney General\u2019s Office, detention and probation budgets, our tribal court system and other areas, while staying engaged in any congressional response to legislation that protects our tribal sovereignty, keeps this historic ruling intact and ensures criminals that commit violent acts on Cherokee Nation reservation lands do not go free,\u201d Chief Hoskin said.\u00a0\u201cThis court decision is the largest victory for Indian Country in our lifetime, but also represents new challenges for the Cherokee Nation,\u00a0so we are preparing vigorously for what we anticipate is coming.\u00a0I look forward to a detailed report from the commission in the coming weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commission will be comprised of Deputy Chief Bryan Warner, Human Services Executive Director Marsha Lamb, Marshal Shannon Buhl, several members of the cabinet, Cherokee Nation Supreme Court Justice John Garrett and Presiding District Court Judge Luke Barteaux, former U.S. Ambassador Keith Harper and Tribal Councilors Joe Byrd, Mike Shambaugh and Janees Taylor.<\/p>\n

The commission will analyze resource concerns, costs and necessary steps as the Cherokee Nation prepares to exercise expanded jurisdiction over crimes committed by tribal citizens, non-member Indians and non-Indians.<\/p>\n

The group will also give input on the courts, law enforcement within the Cherokee reservation, criminal codes, jails, re-entry and diversion programs, probation, prosecution, indigent defense counsel, cases involving the Indian Child Welfare Act, domestic violence cases, minor delinquent cases and other areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spent decades working to protect our sovereignty and we need to be proactive now more than ever,\u201d Speaker of the Tribal Council Joe Byrd said. \u201cI proudly join the commission and have asked Councilors Mike Shambaugh and Janees Taylor, who have experience in law enforcement and finance, to join as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the order,\u00a0all Cherokee Nation departments that intersect with the Cherokee Nation Court, Attorney General, and the Marshal Service that are impacted by the\u00a0McGirt\u00a0decision will submit a report of impacts and proposed recommendations to be delivered to the commission. The commission will be charged with issuing a final report to administration by Dec. 1.<\/p>\n

The executive order also authorizes the Cherokee Nation Attorney General to create the Inter-Governmental Law Enforcement Task Force\u00a0of external law enforcement and state and federal prosecutors to collaborate and ensure the prosecution of crimes committed on Cherokee Nation\u2019s 7,000-square-mile reservation lands see no gaps in jurisdiction.<\/p>\n

The commission and task force will be vital for discussions and decisions on resources as cases are transferred to tribal and federal court.<\/p>\n

Cherokee Nation filed an amicus brief with the\u00a0Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals last week asserting the Cherokee Nation\u2019s reservation remains intact. That case involved the conviction of a Miami tribal citizen arrested inside the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation\u2019s reservation for possessing a firearm after a former felony conviction.<\/p>\n

There are similar cases also pending, which\u00a0are just the first of what could be thousands of criminal cases challenged for lack of state jurisdiction. When or if those challenges are successful, the cases will be transferred to federal and Cherokee Nation prosecutors.<\/p>\n

The Cherokee Nation Reservation, Judicial Expansion and Sovereignty Protection legislative act will also go before Tribal Council this month. It will allow long-term planning for more resources and staffing and authorize Chief Hoskin to secure grants and federal funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Cherokee Nation will continue to fight to protect our sovereignty, the Cherokee reservation, the Cherokee people and all citizens living within our Cherokee reservation boundaries,\u201d Chief Hoskin added. \u201cI signed this executive order today to put this commission in place to ensure stability and protection on our reservation lands and proposed this legislative act to secure federal funding to meet the challenges\u00a0presented by the landmark United States Supreme Court McGirt decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. has established a new commission to make funding and resource recommendations and examine other related areas in the wake of the historic United States Supreme Court McGirt decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_breakdance_hide_in_design_set":false,"_breakdance_tags":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/z\/supremecourt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/z\/supremecourt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/z\/supremecourt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/z\/supremecourt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/z\/supremecourt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/z\/supremecourt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":466,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/z\/supremecourt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463\/revisions\/466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/z\/supremecourt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/z\/supremecourt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/z\/supremecourt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}