Treaties, Tribes & Turmoil: McGirt v. Oklahoma and Castro-Huerta v. Oklahoma
1h
Created on April 05, 2023
Intermediate
Course Price
$79
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Overview
No U.S. Supreme Court decision interpreting Native American treaty rights has had a greater impact on criminal justice in the past generation than McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020). In McGirt, the Court ruled in a 5-4 vote that the original boundaries of the Creek Nation, as recognized by an 1866 treaty between that tribe and the United States government, still apply in criminal cases, regardless if the land within those boundaries is or is not tribal land. This means that when crimes are committed by Indians within the 1866 treaty boundaries, only the federal government and the Creek (Muscogee) Nation - not the State of Oklahoma - may prosecute the crime. McGirt has since been interpreted to apply to a total of five Native American tribes with similar 1866 treaties with the United States. Consequently, about 40 percent of Oklahoma, including metropolitan Tulsa, no longer falls within state jurisdiction when citizens of federally recognized Indian tribes allegedly commit crimes there.
In response, the State has filed at least 45 separate petitions with the Court to overturn or modify McGirt. The Court rejected all these petitions except Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta - another 5-4 decision - in which the Court ruled, for the first time in two centuries, that Oklahoma and other states may prosecute non-Indians who commit crimes against Indians in Indian country. The combination of these two landmark cases, which rest on competing visions of the retained inherent authority of state governments versus tribal governments in the federal constitutional system, is upending longstanding assumptions about the balance of power among these three sovereigns. McGirt and Castro-Huerta raise potentially serious implications not only for criminal justice in Oklahoma, but for how Native American treaty rights will or will not be enforced in both civil and criminal matters elsewhere.
A former United States Attorney for Colorado who chaired the Indian Law and Order Commission, Troy Eid is President Emeritus of the Navajo Nation Bar Association; an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Denver-Sturm College of Law; and a longtime Lawline presenter.
Learning Objectives:
- Break down the subject of Federal Indian Law, the legal and political relationship - as recognized by treaties, statutes, and Presidential executive orders - between the federal government and 574 Native American and Alaska Native tribes and nations
- Analyze McGirt v. Oklahoma and Castro-Huerta v. Oklahoma, two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that are reshaping criminal justice in Oklahoma as five Native American tribes seek to enforce treaty-based rights with the United States
- Identify the larger implications of McGirt and Castro-Huerta to Native American tribal sovereignty and the balance of power between and among tribes, the federal government, and state governments across the country
Credits
Faculty
Troy Eid
Shareholder | Greenberg Traurig LLP
Troy A. Eid is a nationally known legal expert on environmental enforcement, investigations and compliance, energy and natural resource development, and Federal Indian law and Native American and Alaska Native tribal law. A former United States Attorney who has served both Republican and Democratic Presidential administrations, and a past state cabinet officer for the State of Colorado, Troy is a trusted public figure in the Rocky Mountain West and Washington, DC, and a familiar face in many federal, state and tribal courtrooms across the country.
Troy, who first joined the firm in 2003, co-founded and co-chairs Greenberg Traurig’s American Indian Law Practice Group, one of the largest and highest-rated legal teams in the United States. A principal shareholder with Greenberg Traurig's Denver office, Troy practices at the trial and appellate level. He has successfully defended clients in some of the largest and highest-profile environmental enforcement actions ever filed by U.S. Department of Justice under the Clean Water Act and other federal laws, as well as in grand jury proceedings. Troy is also frequently sought as a mediator and arbitrator, especially in cases involving Indian tribes and tribal enterprises.
An experienced legal project manager, Troy has coordinated various inter-disciplinary legal and consulting teams in numerous large-scale energy infrastructure projects, including natural gas pipelines, transmission lines, highways and railroads. He specializes in civil and criminal investigations involving petroleum-related leaks and spills, uranium contamination, hazardous waste pollution, asbestos, and other environmental and workplace safety matters, as well as health care and hospital-related regulatory, permitting and compliance projects. Troy is also a recognized authority on Native American cultural resource protection and related government-to-government consultation between tribes and the federal government under the National Historic Preservation Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and other laws.
Troy is well-respected on both sides of the aisle for his professional knowledge and expertise, especially as it relates to energy, natural resource, criminal justice, and other legal and public policy matters concerning the American West.
He served as Colorado’s United States Attorney from 2006-09, appointed by President George W. Bush. From 2010-14, Troy was elected to chair the Indian Law and Order Commission (ILOC), an independent national advisory board created by the Tribal Law and Order Act to advise President Obama and Congress on public safety improvements for all 566 federally recognized Native American and Alaska Native tribes and nations. The ILOC’s landmark 2013 report, A Roadmap for Making Native America Safer, proposes the most sweeping criminal justice reforms in Federal Indian law and policy since the New Deal. Endorsed by the American Bar Association, the ILOC’s Roadmap helped lead to the enactment of the Violence Against Women Act Amendments recognizing tribes’ criminal jurisdiction to prosecute non-Indian perpetrators in domestic violence cases.
A recipient of the Navajo Nation Bar Association’s Member of the Year Award, Troy grew up in Colorado and graduated from Stanford University and the University of Chicago Law School. He clerked for Judge Edith H. Jones of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He has been recognized for distinguished public service by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Secret Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and other federal and state law enforcement agencies. He was also recognized by Law Week Colorado as Colorado Lawyer of Year for representing the seller of the HealthOne hospital system in Colorado, the largest hospital-related transaction ever in the Rocky Mountain West.
A regular contributor to the national edition of Native American Law360 and other Law360 publications, Troy teaches energy, natural resources, environmental and Federal Indian law as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Denver-Sturm College of Law. He currently serves as an At-Large Member on the Tribal Issues Advisory Board of the United States Sentencing Commission, an independent agency within the Federal judiciary that is assessing the impact of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines in criminal convictions involving Native Americans and Alaska Natives.
Reviews
Recent Reviews
This presenter is always top notch.
This was really interesting, timely, great court case resources provided. Even though this is outside of my experience, I felt like I could understand the entire content in the way it was presented
excellent presentation on an important and complex subject, thank you!
Faculty outstanding!! Really interesting issues even for this divorce lawyer...
Excellent presenter and thrilling content!
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