Oklahoma's Stories

Man gets 6½-year federal term after 25-year state term overturned for fatal shooting at fireworks stand By: Curtis Killman, Tulsa World -- Tulsa, Oklahoma - A Tulsa man who admitted to fatally shooting a 15-year-old after he stole fireworks from his family business was sentenced to serve 6½ years in federal prison with credit for time already served in state prison for the crime.
No charges filed for dog hit by car, assault caught on camera in Okemah By: Hunter McEachern, KFOR -- OKEMAH, Okla. – A dog hit by a car, a woman hit in the face and a gun pulled on a group of people, all caught on camera. The assault in Okemah, resurfacing after almost a year later.
Defending McGirt, tribal leaders ignore, dismiss Indian victims By: Ray Carter, OCPA -- In their efforts to defend the McGirt v. Oklahoma ruling that Gov. Kevin Stitt wants curtailed or overturned, Oklahoma tribal leaders have increasingly taken an unexpected tack.
Gov. Stitt recognizes Billy Lord, from Wagoner, at State of the State Address: That’s not fair By: Justin Ayer, Tulsa World -- Pamela Sue Chuculate-Sequichie remained impassive and stern while showcasing her fight for justice in front of dozens of Oklahoma policy makers on Monday.
Bizarre dog killing exposes limits to cross-deputization agreements in wake of McGirt ruling By: Curtis Killman, Tulsa World -- The officer had pulled the vehicle over one day last fall because it matched the description of one witnesses said was associated with an attempted robbery that had just occurred inside a Walgreens store.
Hughes Co. Sheriff Says Law Enforcement With Muscogee Nation Is Failing, Withdraws Cross Deputization By: Storme Jones, News 9 -- HOLDENVILLE, Oklahoma - Relationships between the tribes and law enforcement have been strained since the McGirt ruling transformed the state's judicial system. Now, Hughes County Sheriff Marcia Maxwell said her department’s relationship with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s Lighthorse Police is at a breaking point.

National News

Supreme Court Upended the Legal System in Oklahoma and Could Do It Again By: Sadie Gurman, WSJ -- In new bid before high court, Oklahoma seeks to restore some of the prosecutorial power it lost after 2020 ruling deemed nearly half the state a Native American reservation.
More McGirt Mayhem in Oklahoma By: The Editorial Board, WSJ -- After the Supreme Court’s 2020 McGirt decision, which held that roughly half of Oklahoma is still under Native American reservation jurisdiction...
The Supreme Court’s McGirt Cleanup By: The Editorial Board, WSJ -- The Supreme Court made a mess in Oklahoma two years ago, but the good news is the Justices might now be moving to help clean it up.
The McGirt Ruling Breaches Its Levee By: The Editorial Board, WSJ -- Oklahoma’s civil power is at risk, as a court order showed last week.
More McGirt Fallout: The Case of the White Supremacist Choctaw By: Editorial Board, WSJ -- The Supreme Court created a legal mess with its misbegotten 5-4 McGirt ruling in 2020, and the complications keep coming. Consider the legal escape hatch for Native American criminals in Oklahoma, and the problem of defining who counts as Native.

More National News

‘Complete, dysfunctional chaos’: Oklahoma reels after Supreme Court ruling on Indian tribes By: Annie Gowen & Robert Barnes, Washington Post -- Kyle Willis hadn’t seen Kimberly Graham in years, since the day she was sentenced to 107 years in prison...

The Native American Victims of McGirt By: The Editorial Board, WSJ - ‘There is no protection for me—or anyone like me,’ one woman says. Crystal Jensen had finished a shower one morning in 2019 when she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye.

Oklahoma Gov. Stitt says dangerous criminals walking free thanks to 'horribly wrong' Supreme Court ruling By: Houston Keene, Fox News -- Oklahoma Gov. Stitt says dangerous criminals walking free thanks to 'horribly wrong' Supreme Court ruling.

Man could go free after court overturns manslaughter conviction on McGirt claim By: Curtis Killman, Tulsa World -- In a decision that could pave the way for a man’s freedom, an obviously reluctant state appellate court overturned the conviction and 19-year prison sentence of a Wagoner man in the 2013 traffic death of an 11 year-old boy.
Tahlequah doctor accused of murder has history of domestic violence By Grant D. Crawford CNHI Oklahoma -- A physician arrested on a first-degree murder complaint in Arkansas on Monday night had been charged with domestic assault and battery in January before the case was dismissed due to the Supreme Court’s McGirt decision.
Tax Commission denies tribal citizen’s income tax exemption appeal By: Tres Savage, NONDOC -- “Protestant does not qualify for the Exempt Tribal Income Exclusion claimed on his 2015, 2016, and 2017 returns because protestant has not shown the income he seeks to exclude is derived from a source under the jurisdiction of a tribe of which he is a member,” the OTC order states.
McGirt decision creating millions in new expenses for state By: Ray Carter, OCPA - While the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma may have stripped the state of the power to prosecute countless crimes involving a mix of Indians and non-Indians in eastern Oklahoma, it has not reduced state law-enforcement expenses, officials told lawmakers at a recent budget hearing.
Officials: McGirt changed how crimes are investigated By: Keri Thornton, Tahlequah Daily Press - Law enforcement officials say the McGirt ruling has affected the process they follow when working homicides.
Man freed from life without parole prison term pleads guilty to reduced charge By: Curtis Killman, Tulsa World -- A Tulsa man who made news during his murder trial when he bashed a plastic water pitcher into a prosecutor’s head admitted Thursday to his part in a 2018 deadly robbery after his original state conviction and life without parole prison sentence were overturned.
Quapaw Nation asserts jurisdiction over non-Indians in domestic violence cases By: Staff Reports, Tulsa World -- The Quapaw Nation is asserting jurisdiction over all domestic violence cases against Native Americans that occur within its reservation, whether the offenders are Native American or not, the nation announced Wednesday.
Former officer files grievance against city By: Roy Faulkenberry, Sequoyah County Times -- Former Sallisaw Police Lt. Billy Oliver has filed a grievance challenging his termination by the city on Jan. 31, after being stripped of his CLEET certification.

Prosecutors Worried Claremore Woman Charged With Running Over Her Son Could Go Unpunished By: Amelia Mugavero, News On 6 -- Prosecutors Worried Claremore Woman Charged With Running Over Her Son Could Go Unpunished.
Judges among those criticizing 'McGirt' ruling By: Ray Carter, The Oklahoma City Sentinel -- Since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in ‘McGirt v. Oklahoma,’ which effectively declared that nearly half of Oklahoma consisted of Indian reservations, Governor Kevin Stitt and Attorney General John O’Connor have been among the most high-profile critics of that decision.
Suspect in infant death released in McGirt-related dispute By: Daisy Creager, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise - The suspect in the October death of a 2-year-old was released Friday in what Washington County District Attorney's Office is calling a "public safety disaster" created by the McGirt ruling...
Abuse of tribal police alleged in Cherokee Nation By: Ray Carter, OCPA -- When the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma, which effectively decided that Indian reservations comprise most of eastern Oklahoma, it stripped the Oklahoma state government of the ability to prosecute crimes committed by or against American Indians in those areas.
Murder charge dropped as a result of McGirt By: Staff Reports, Ada News - A felony charge was dismissed recently against a man accused of a 2019 murder, an indirect result of the McGirt ruling.
Former Sallisaw police officer accused of rape, out on bond By Cassidy Mudd, KTUL -- A former Sallisaw police officer is out on bond after being accused of raping a woman last November.
Muskogee mother says McGirt decision denies her closure for son’s death By: Spencer Humphrey, FOX23 News -- MUSKOGEE, Okla. — It’s been almost two years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s McGirt decision upended the way many authorities in Oklahoma seek justice. A Muskogee woman blames the decision for why nobody has been held accountable for her son’s death.
Wagoner mother worried son's killer will be released from prison early By: 2 News Oklahoma, KJRH -- WAGONER, Okla. — A man convicted in a Wagoner boy's death could be released early on a technicality from his 19-year sentence.

Last Modified on Apr 11, 2022