U.S. Supreme Court overrules itself, diminishes Native Nations’ sovereignty

[The original version has been edited for clarity.]

A mere two years, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma, affirming Tribal sovereignty in criminal justice matters involving Native Americans on reservation lands.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court reversed itself in Oklahoma v. Victor Manuel Castro-Huerta, giving states “concurrent jurisdiction” on those cases.

Former U.S. Attorney Generals call it a “radical departure from U.S. law.” One analyst said it could create a “massive” disruption in Indian Country criminal law.

Lecture: Future of Indian Law Under a Trump Administration

Suzan Harjo (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee), a poet, writer, and leading Native American rights advocate, will be speaking tonight on the future of Indian law under a Trump administration at Mitchell Hamline Law School, 875 Summit Ave, St Paul. The talk will be held in Room 323 starting at 6:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public. Here is the announcement.

According to an online bio of Harjo posted by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, she is the former executive director of the National Congress of American Indians and has advocated for decades for laws to promote Native nations’ sovereignty, languages and religious freedom, as well as pass the National Museum of the American Indian Act. Harjo is one of seven Native people “who filed the 1992 landmark case Harjo et al v. Pro Football, Inc., against the disparaging name of the Washington football team.”