Warnings of Chaos in Tribal Border Battle Worry Justices (2)

The government’s dire warnings of criminal, tax, and regulatory chaos if the U.S. Supreme Court rules against Oklahoma in a dispute over tribal land boundaries got the court’s attention at oral arguments Nov. 27.

The case was in front of the justices by way of state death row inmate Patrick Dwayne Murphy, who wants them to find the 1999 murder he committed took place on an American Indian reservation instead of on state land. That could save him from execution at the hands of the state if only the federal government had the right to prosecute him.

But those attending ...