Tribal Courts in Action: Muscogee (Creek) Nation Supreme Court Requires the Same Jury System for All Defendants

Wenona Singel
Image of the design of the new Muscogee (Creek) Nation Tribal Courthouse under construction in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. The 43,514 square foot building will feature larger jury courtrooms with room for up to 150 spectators each, multiple additional courtrooms, judges’ offices, inmate holding areas, and ceremonial design elements reflecting Muscogee traditions. Muscogee (Creek) Nation Tribal Courthouse – New Fire Native Design Group

Muscogee (Creek) Nation v. Banks provides an example of Tribal law taking on an independent life after federal law prompts institutional change.

In Banks, the Nation prosecuted an Indian defendant for domestic abuse and moved to exclude non-Indian jurors, arguing that VAWA’s expanded jury protections were unnecessary because the Nation already possessed inherent criminal jurisdiction over him.

The Muscogee Supreme Court rejected that position because Mvskoke law itself required the expanded jury pool. When the National Council amended the Nation’s laws in response to VAWA, it adopted a rule providing defendants charged with domestic, dating, or family violence crimes a jury drawn from a fair cross-section of the community, including non-Indians. The Tribal statute doesn’t distinguish between Indian and non-Indian defendants.

The Court acknowledged that the Nation’s sovereignty and ICRA arguments were “persuasive,” but held that they could not authorize the judiciary to disregard the National Council’s unambiguous statute. If the National Council wants to change the jury formation process it created, the Court made clear, it must do so through legislation; the judiciary won’t rewrite it by interpretation.

That makes Banks more than a VAWA implementation case. Federal law prompted the Nation to redesign its jury system, but Mvskoke law now operates independently of the federal minimum that inspired it. The opinion expressly describes the decision as resting on “traditional and modern Mvskoke law.”

The ruling was interlocutory, and the Supreme Court remanded the case for continued proceedings related to Banks’ prosecution. The opinion was issued on May 29, 2026.

Link to Opinion

Muscogee (Creek) Nation v. Banks, Muscogee (Creek) Nation Supreme Court, May 29, 2026