Justices to Hear McGirt-Impact Issue, Not Ditching Precedent (2)

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide how its landmark McGirt ruling applies to state prosecutions of non-Indians, while passing on Oklahoma’s aggressive attempt to topple the 2020 precedent on American Indian reservations and criminal jurisdiction.

The 5-4 decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma, which said that Congress never disestablished the Muscogee (Creek) Reservation, was rendered before the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was in the majority. Oklahoma officials pointed to Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s replacement of Ginsburg in expressing hope that the court would change course, a move that the tribe said “confuses the Court for ...