Jimcy McGirt, Petitioner v. Oklahoma

Summary

Justice Gorsuch, joined by Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan, held that Congress established a Creek reservation and never disestablished its remaining territory. Allotment, restrictions on tribal government, historical state prosecutions, and demographic changes did not supply the necessary congressional action. The Major Crimes Act applies in eastern Oklahoma, so Oklahoma lacked jurisdiction to prosecute McGirt for the covered offenses committed on the reservation. The Court also rejected an adequate-and-independent-state-ground objection to its jurisdiction and reversed the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. Chief Justice Roberts dissented, joined by Justices Alito and Kavanaugh and by Justice Thomas except as to footnote 9, arguing that the statutes collectively, considered with their historical context and subsequent treatment, demonstrated disestablishment. Justice Thomas separately dissented, additionally arguing that an independent and adequate state procedural bar deprived the Court of jurisdiction.