Proof in Trial: Appellate Edition: Stand Up for California et al. v. U.S. Department of the Interior et al.
McGirt Uncertainty Extends to Federal Environmental Regulations in Indian Country
Revisiting McGirt: New Legal Developments Challenge Oklahoma’s Landmark Ruling
The Immediate and Lasting Impacts of McGirt: A Novel Ruling for Oklahoma
On February 10, 2023, the Honorable Judge Angel Kelley of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts ruled that the U.S. Department of the Interior acted legally when it took into trust 321 acres of land (two noncontiguous...more
In a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, on June 29, that the Federal Government and the State have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute non-Indians who commit crimes against...more
U.S. SUPREME COURT RULING DEALS BLOW TO TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY - In stunning disregard of over 200 years of precedent (dating back to the 1823 landmark case Worcester v. Georgia), on June 29, 2022, via Oklahoma v....more
In a move that is expected to expand the reach of the Clean Water Act, the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers announced their intent to revise the definition of “waters of the United States”—a...more
On July 9, the U.S. Supreme Court made waves in McGirt v. Oklahoma by overturning a criminal conviction imposed upon a Native American defendant under Oklahoma law. The primary reasons for overturning the conviction were that...more
On July 9, 2020, the United States Supreme Court held in McGirt v. Oklahoma that, for purposes of the Major Crimes Act (MCA), land in eastern Oklahoma reserved for the Creek Nation pursuant to a treaty ratified by Congress...more
On July 9, 2020, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in McGirt v. Oklahoma, ruling that most of the eastern half of Oklahoma is an Indian reservation. While the decision ostensibly resolves a jurisdictional challenge to a...more
In series of Treaties with the Creek Nation in the 1830s, the United States established a Reservation for the Creeks, covering millions of acres in northeastern Oklahoma, including land on which the City of Tulsa is located....more
Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court clouded the jurisdiction of the entire eastern half of Oklahoma in McGirt v. Oklahoma, including the state’s power to enforce laws within the City of Tulsa, by holding that certain...more
On July 9, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court held in McGirt v. Oklahoma, No. 18-9526, that the Creek Nation’s reservation in northeastern Oklahoma has never been disestablished. The decision resolves not only McGirt, but its...more
On July 9, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court decided McGirt v. Oklahoma, No. 18-9526, holding that the Creek Nation’s reservation in northeastern Oklahoma, which includes most of the city of Tulsa, has never been disestablished. ...more
More than six years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Carcieri v. Salazar, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), the chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, has introduced the “Interior Improvement Act” to fix...more
Following a court hearing and order temporarily delaying the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) final rule regulating hydraulic fracturing on federal public lands, the BLM submitted its response brief opposing the Ute Indian...more
On June 4, 2015, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its en banc decision in Big Lagoon Rancheria v. California, a case in which Big Lagoon Rancheria, a federally recognized Indian tribe, sought to compel the State of...more
In response to the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Carcieri v. Salazar, 555 U.S. 379 (2009), the Office of the Solicitor for the United States Department of the Interior issued a memorandum opinion on March 12, 2014,...more
Contracts with Indian tribes should specify a venue for disputes arising from those agreements. A common mistake for attorneys drafting agreements involving tribes is to assume that federal courts automatically have subject...more