House Natural Resources Committee
Indigenous Peoples of the United States Subcommittee
Examining Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta: The Implications of the Supreme Court's Ruling on Tribal Sovereignty
On Tuesday, September 20, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. ET, in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building and via Cisco WebEx, the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States (SCIP) will hold an oversight hearing entitled “Examining Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta: The Implications of the Supreme Court’s Ruling on Tribal Sovereignty.”
On June 29, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals’ ruling in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta by determining that the State maintains concurrent jurisdiction with the federal government to prosecute major crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian Country. The 5-4 opinion led by Justice Kavanaugh held that Indian Country within a state’s territory is part of the State, which therefore confers State jurisdiction to the prosecution of crimes committed in Indian Country unless it is otherwise preempted.
Castro-Huerta overturns nearly 200 years of federal Indian legal precedent and further complicates an already complex framework for the investigation and prosecution of crimes committed in Indian Country. This expansion of State jurisdiction is anticipated to add greater uncertainty over what government entity maintains the authority to deliver public safety services on tribal lands and will likely influence the quality of such services.
The oversight hearing will provide an overview of Castro-Huerta’s national impacts in Indian County and explore how this ruling may pose additional threats to tribal sovereignty.
Witnesses
Panel I: Administration Panel- Bryan Newland, Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior
- Jonodev Chaudhuri, Ambassador, Muscogee Creek Nation
- Kevin Killer, President, Oglala Sioux Tribe
- Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, Chairwoman, Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah
- Whitney Gravelle, President, Bay Mills Indian Community
- Teri Gobin, Chair, Tulalip Tribes
- Sara Hill, Attorney General, Cherokee Nation
- Mary Kathryn Nagle, Counsel, National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center
- Bethany Berger, Wallace Stevens Professor of Law, University of Connecticut School of Law
- Carole Goldberg, Jonathan D. Varat Distinguished Professor of Law Emerita, University of California School of Law
- Stacy Leeds, Foundation Professor of Law and Leadership, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
- Matthew J. Ballard, District Attorney, Oklahoma District 12
- Mithun Mansinghani, Partner, Lehotsky Keller LLP