Tenth Circuit

Tenth Circuit Briefs in Wichita and Affiliated Tribes v. Stitt

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Appellant Brief.pdfDownload
Appellee Brief.pdfDownload

Reply TK

Lower court materials here.

Tenth Circuit Affirms Post-McGirt Federal Conviction Where Jury Might Could Have Acquitted Defendant Under Oklahoma Self-Defense Law

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in United States v. Budder.

Briefs:

Opening Brief.pdfDownload
Government Brief.pdfDownload
Reply.pdfDownload

City of Tulsa v Hooper Stay Application Materials

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Application For Stay.pdfDownload
Hooper Response to Stay.pdfDownload
MCN Amici Hooper Amici Stay Opp.pdfDownload
Reply to Stay .pdfDownload
Kavanaugh Statement.pdfDownload

Lower court materials here.

Tenth Circuit Affirms Interior Decision on Wyandotte Lands in Kansas

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in State of Kansas ex rel. Kobach v. Dep’t of the Interior.

Briefs here.

Tenth Circuit Decides Hooper v. City of Tulsa . . . Hooper 7, Tulsa 0

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in Hooper v. City of Tulsa.

Briefs here and here.

Substitute Hooper for Haley and Oklahoma for United States.

Tenth Circuit Reverses Jimcy McGirt’s Conviction, Orders New Trial

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion:

CA10 Opinion.pdfDownload

Briefs:

McGirt Opening Brief.pdfDownload
Government’s Brief.pdfDownload
Reply.pdfDownload

Tenth Circuit Rejects Habeas Petition from Prisoner Asserting McGirt-Type Claims

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in McGill v. Rankin.

Available brief here:

McGill Brief.PDFDownload

We don’t post many of these post-McGirt prisoner cases, but this is exemplary of the numerous rejected habeas petitions filed by prisoners claiming to be Indian and convicted of crimes inside of Indian country. This person was convicted of a crime in 2001. This was his fifth habeas petition, filed in 2023, and the first raising McGirt-related claims. This footnote is as close as these late habeas petitioners get to relief:

We note that another Oklahoma prisoner also successfully made the same argument as Mr. McGirt, which the Supreme Court recognized in its decision. See McGirt, 140 S. Ct. at 2460 (“While Oklahoma state courts have rejected any suggestion that the lands in question remain a reservation, the Tenth Circuit has reached the opposite conclusion.” (citing Murphy v. Royal, 875 F.3d 896, 907-09, 966 (10th Cir. 2017)). In Murphy, we issued a writ of habeas corpus after agreeing with the petitioner that he should not have been tried in state court but instead “should have been tried in federal court because he is an Indian and the offense occurred in Indian country.” 875 F.3d at 903.

It’s not much, eh? Remember Oklahoma in 2017-18?

Oklahoma’s cert petition in Royal v. Murphy (later Sharp v. Murphy).

Maybe yes (maybe?) on the pending prosecutions, but not so much the existing convictions, eh? Hmmmm.

Supplemental Briefs on Standing in Hooper v. Tulsa

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Hooper Supplemental Brief on Standing.pdfDownload
Tulsa Supplemental Brief.pdfDownload
Hooper Supplemental Reply.pdfDownload

Oral argument audio here.

Briefs here.

Jaune Smith

Tenth Circuit Oral Argument Audio in Hooper v. City of Tulsa

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Briefs here.

Teepee incense here:

Tenth Circuit Rules in Favor of Jemez Pueblo’s Aboriginal Rights Suit re: Valles Caldera

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in Pueblo of Jemez v. United States.

An excerpt:

In our circuit, both before and after Jemez I, the Jemez Pueblo could lose its established aboriginal title to Banco Bonito only if its title had been extinguished or abandoned. And the district court concluded that neither of those conditions had occurred. So in accordance with longstanding Supreme Court precedent, and by the district court’s findings, the Jemez Pueblo still has aboriginal title to Banco Bonito.

Links to briefs and lower court materials here.