Muscogee (Creek) Nation files suit against Twenty-Fifth District Attorneys

Editor’s Note: The following is a press release from the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

Okmulgee, Okla. – The Muscogee (Creek) Nation (“Nation”) filed suit in federal courts against Carol Iski, District Attorney for the Twenty-Fifth District covering Okmulgee and McIntosh Counties, and Matthew Ballard, District Attorney for the Twelfth District covering Rogers, Mayes, and Craig Counties.

The Nation’s suit alleges these District Attorneys are unlawfully prosecuting Indians for alleged crimes occurring within the Nation’s Reservation boundaries despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma, which affirmed that the Nation’s treaty-defined reservation boundaries remain intact, and that states and their political subdivisions accordingly have no criminal jurisdiction over Indians within those boundaries absent congressional authorization.

Principal Chief David Hill stated: “Ever since the Supreme Court’s ruling in McGirt, the Nation has made significant strides to improve and expand upon its law enforcement and judicial capabilities to provide robust public safety within the Nation’s reservation. Unfortunately, after almost five years since the McGirt ruling, some jurisdictions within our reservation refuse to acknowledge these long-standing principles of federal law, and, by doing so, they infringe on the civil rights of Indians within the Nation’s jurisdiction and interfere with the Nation’s federally protected right to self-government. We are asking the federal courts to send a clear message to these recalcitrant jurisdictions that Muscogee (Creek) Nation will stand firm to defend its sovereignty.”

The lawsuit against District Attorney Iski was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma located in Muskogee, and the lawsuit against District Attorney Ballard was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma located in Tulsa.