Criminal – Page 28 – Turtle Talk

The United States reassumed Pub. L. 83-280 criminal jurisdiction over crimes involving Indians within the Yakama Reservation from the State of Washington pursuant to 25 U.S.C. § 1323, on April 19, 2016. Years later, federal officials re-interpreted the scope of that federal reassumption to allow the State of Washington to once again exercise criminal jurisdiction over Indians within the Yakama Reservation any time a non-Indian is involved in the crime.The question presented is:
Can the United States change the scope of its reassumption of Pub. L. 83-280 jurisdiction in Indian Country years after the reassumption became effective under 25 U.S.C. § 1323 without the Yakama Nation’s prior consent required by 25 U.S.C. § 1326?

Lower court materials here.

Update (3/4/21):

Brief in Opposition

Update (3/16/21):

Yakama Reply

Federal Court Dismisses Nonmember’s Challenge to Jurisdiction over Ponca Tribal Court P.P.O.

December 4, 2020Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Phillips v. Nebraska (D. Neb.):

1 Habeas Petition

13 Motion for Summary Judgment

14 DCT Order

SCOTUS Grants U.S. v. Cooley

November 20, 2020Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the order list for today.

Here are the cert stage briefs.

Here are the lower court materials.

Tenth Circuit Confirms Sentence on Cherokee Nation Citizen’s Conviction for Child Neglect

November 17, 2020Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in United States v. Clark.

Cert Stage Briefs in United States v. Cooley

October 28, 2020Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Cert Petition

Respondent Brief in Opposition to Petition for a Writ of Certiorari

Cooley Cert Reply

Tenth Circuit Confirms Criminal Convictions in Courts of Indian Offenses are Not Federal Convictions for Double Jeopardy Purposes

October 28, 2020Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in United States v. Denezpi:

CA10 Opinion

Denezpi Opening Brief

US Answer Brief

Reply Brief

DCT Order Denying Motion to Dismiss

Motions to Dismiss State Prosecutions under McGirt

October 26, 2020Matthew L.M. Fletcher

A flurry of motions has come in. Here is the motion to dismiss a criminal complaint on the Cherokee reservation in State of Oklahoma v. Nichols (Tulsa County Dist. Ct.):

Nichols Brief

Here is the motion to dismiss in a case involving a Creek reservation crime where the defendant marked “I” on the racial identity box, State of Oklahoma v. Williams (Tulsa County Dist. Ct.):

Williams Brief

And here is the motion to dismiss in State of Oklahoma v. Shaffer (Tulsa County Dist. Ct.), where the defendant was unenrolled at the time of the crime and is now seeking enrollment at Cherokee:

Shaffer Brief