Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta Oral Arguments

The Supreme Court heard oral argument in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, a case on whether state governments can prosecute non-Indians who commit crimes on Indian land. Victor Manuel Castro-Huerta was charged with neglecting his daughter, who is Cherokee, on tribal land. A jury convicted him, but he appealed the conviction. As his case was going through the Oklahoma appellate system, the Supreme Court ruled in a case called McGirt, which deemed much of Eastern Oklahoma Indian country and, in effect, removed tribal lands from state jurisdiction, allowing only the federal and tribal governments to prosecute crimes committed on those lands. Mr. Castro-Huerta’s legal team used the ruling during the appeals process and won.

The Court on June 29, 2022, ruled 5-4 that the federal government and the state have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian country. close