Bloomberg Law
May 21, 2018, 2:46 PM

Oklahoma, Business Groups Get High Court Review in Murder Case

Greg Stohr
Greg Stohr
Bloomberg News

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an unusual death penalty case that could have outsize implications for businesses operating in Oklahoma.

The justices will review a lower court decision that stripped Oklahoma of the power to prosecute American Indians in much of the eastern part of the state. The ruling also called into question Oklahoma’s regulatory authority in historically tribal territories.

Business groups and the Trump administration joined Oklahoma in urging Supreme Court review. Oklahoma told the justices the federal appeals court decision “will impose intolerable and destabilizing uncertainty throughout half the state.“

In throwing out Patrick Dwayne Murphy’s ...