SCOTUS seems divided in Indian Country case

WASHINGTON (AP) — A seemingly divided Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday over Oklahoma’s authority to prosecute some crimes on Native American lands, following a 2020 high court decision. The outcome probably rests with Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the only member of the court who didn’t take part in the earlier case.

Barrett, who joined the court later in 2020 after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, didn’t tip her hand in more than two hours of arguments.

The case pits Native tribes in Oklahoma against Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt and is the latest strain on his relationship with tribal leaders.

The high court is being asked to decide whether the state retains the authority to prosecute non-Natives for crimes committed on tribal land when the victim is Native American.

Oklahoma appealed to the Supreme Court after a state court threw out the conviction against Victor CastroHuerta, who is not Native American. CastroHuerta was charged by Oklahoma prosecutors with malnourishment of his disabled 5-year-old stepdaughter, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

The state court ruled Oklahoma lacked the authority to prosecute a crime committed against a Native American on tribal land.

Castro-Huerta has since pleaded guilty to a federal child neglect charge in exchange for a seven-year prison term, though he has not been formally sentenced yet.

Two years ago, the justices split 5-4 in holding that a large chunk of eastern Oklahoma remains an American Indian reservation. The decision left the state unable to prosecute Native Americans accused of crimes on tribal lands that include most of Tulsa, the state’s second-largest city with a population of about 413,000.