Native Americans digest impact of ruling

A ruling by the US Supreme Court that a large part of eastern Oklahoma state is part of a Native American reservation overturns a criminal conviction and may have far-reaching implications for the region's 1.8 million residents.

The Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling doesn't mean the land is now owned by the tribes. Instead, it means the sites are part of federally owned land and the tribes serve as beneficiaries, officials said.

State and tribal representatives downplayed fears that the ruling would disrupt commerce and lead to parallel justice systems. In the short term, the officials said, little will change. But some business leaders remained skeptical－especially those active in the production of oil and natural gas.

The court's decision hinged on the question of whether the Creek reservation continued to exist after Oklahoma became a state in 1907. The high court said Congress didn't officially end the sovereignty of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation reservation when Oklahoma became a state, leaving the region under tribal jurisdiction.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, a conservative-oriented justice nominated by US President Donald Trump, joined the court's four liberals in the decision on Thursday. Writing for the majority, he said: "If Congress wishes to withdraw its promises, it must say so. Unlawful acts, performed long enough and with sufficient vigor, are never enough to amend the law."

Conviction set aside

Gorsuch added: "To hold otherwise would be to elevate the most brazen and long-standing injustices into the law, both rewarding wrong and failing those in the right."

The ruling set aside the 1997 child-rape conviction of Jimcy McGirt, now 71. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years for the crime.

McGirt didn't contest his guilt. His attorney argued that the crime was committed on land set aside as a reservation for Native Americans and therefore the defendant wasn't subject to Oklahoma state law. The attorney argued that only federal authorities could prosecute McGirt. He may now face trial in a US District Court.

Ian Gershengorn, McGirt's attorney, said the ruling forced the US to keep its promise of setting aside land for the "Five tribes". "The (Supreme) Court today correctly recognized that this reservation endures," he said.

The case stems from the US government's policy in the early 19th century to evict the Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole tribes from their ancestral lands in present-day Alabama and Georgia and move them to the plains of then-territorial Oklahoma. The tribes remember the forcible removal of their ancestors and trek west as the "Trail of tears".

Writing for the dissenting justices, Chief Justice John Roberts said the court's decision throws into doubt the applicability of state taxes, zoning regulations, environmental law and prior criminal convictions of Native Americans living in the region.