Four dissenting Supreme Court Justices warned last year that the majority’s decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma would cause chaos in the Sooner State and beyond. Their warning is coming true in the underreported story of the year, as Justice Neil Gorsuch’s misguided opinion has created legal and economic havoc.
Justice Gorsuch, joined in 2020 by the Court’s four liberals, essentially said nearly half of Oklahoma- with 1.9 million people and most of Tulsa- might still be Indian country under treaties from the 1800s. The results have included overturned convictions all the way up to murder, with some criminals set free; tax protests; and rules on everything from zoning to fishing to marijuana put into doubt.
“In our opinion, this is the biggest issue that’s ever hit any state since the Civil War,” says Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, and he might be right. The state’s ultimate goal is to convince the Supreme Court to reverse McGirt, a 5-4 decision whose majority included Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Her replacement by Justice Amy Coney Barrett could make all the difference. Read more…