• About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Sunday, May 18, 2025
No Result
View All Result
MVSKOKE Media
Subscribe Now
  • Home
  • News
  • Editorial
  • Featured
  • Archives
    • Newspaper Archives
    • Radio
    • Vision
  • Creative
    • Advertising
    • Policies
  • Contact
  • Market
  • Home
  • News
  • Editorial
  • Featured
  • Archives
    • Newspaper Archives
    • Radio
    • Vision
  • Creative
    • Advertising
    • Policies
  • Contact
  • Market
No Result
View All Result
MVSKOKE Media
No Result
View All Result
ADVERTISEMENT

Supporters attend Creek Freedman civil lawsuit hearing

Plaintiffs appear in district court in hopes of summary judgment

by Braden Harper
December 1, 2022
in Editorial, News
0
Supporters attend Creek Freedman civil lawsuit hearing

Freedmen supporters stand outside of the Mound Building where they awaited to hear if a judge would make a summary judgment on a recent Creek Freedman civil lawsuit filed in district court. Due to a full court capacity, some supporters had to wait outside for hours. A jury trial for the case is set for April 4, 2023. Okmulgee, OK. Dec. 1, 2022. (Braden Harper/Reporter)

OKMULGEE, Oklahoma – A jury trial has been scheduled for April 4, 2023, in a civil lawsuit seeking Muscogee Creek Nation citizenship for two Creek Freedmen descendants.

The petition filed with the MCN District Court on Mar. 11 alleges that Rhonda K. Grayson and Jeffrey Kennedy applied for MCN citizenship and were denied.

The petition seeks a declaratory judgment from the court that all Creek Freedmen descendants are Creek citizens under Article 2 of the 1866 treaty.

On Dec. 1, a hearing was held on a motion for summary judgment filed by the plaintiffs in the case, but MCN District Court Judge Denette Mouser has not issued an order granting summary judgment as of the publication of this update.

Damario Solomon-Simmons, who represents Grayson and Kennedy in the case, spoke to the media after the conclusion of the hearing.

“We put on a compelling case, a clear case, a specific case that said that article two of the Creek Treaty of 1866 says ‘Creeks of African descent are entitled to full citizenship rights and benefits as any other Creek’,” Solomon-Simmons said. “That’s the case.”

MCN AG Geri Wisner issued the following statement after the hearing.

“Muscogee (Creek) Special Judge Denette Mouser heard arguments today in the case of Rhonda Grayson and Jeffrey Kennedy vs. the Citizenship Board of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

The Plaintiffs’ application for citizenship in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation has previously been denied by the Citizenship Board because petitioners did not meet constitutionally imposed eligibility standards that require demonstrating Creek ancestry by blood. As allowed by Muscogee (Creek) law, petitioners appealed the Board’s decision for administrative review by the Muscogee (Creek) District Court.

The legal scope of today’s hearing was narrowly confined to consideration of the Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment requesting a finding that the Citizenship Board had not acted consistent with Muscogee (Creek) law and administrative procedures in denying petitioners’ application for citizenship.”

After a nearly two-hour hearing that featured arguments from the Plaintiffs’ attorneys and the Muscogee (Creek) Office of Attorney General, Judge Mouser stated that she would consider the arguments and issue a ruling at a later date.

“It is clear that the Citizenship Board followed the law in denying Plaintiffs’ applications for citizenship. The Muscogee (Creek) Constitution sets forth clear standards that make no provision for extending citizenship to non-Creek individuals,” Attorney General Wisner said.

Addressing arguments that failure to enroll non-Creek individuals as citizens is discriminatory, Attorney General Wisner said, “Efforts to make this case about race are legally unfounded and morally reprehensible. Race is not a consideration in the citizenship process. Petitioners for citizenship are not asked to identify their race, only to validate their lineage as a Muscogee (Creek) person. This case is about lineage-based citizenship, and any assertion otherwise is blatantly false.”

Pending the outcome of Judge Mouser’s ruling on the motion for summary judgment, the trial is scheduled to begin on April 4, 2023. Both parties will now proceed with the discovery process in anticipation of the trial date.

Mvskoke Media will have ongoing coverage of this developing story.

ADVERTISEMENT
Braden Harper

Braden Harper

Next Post
Muscogee Educator named Oklahoma Council for Indian Education Teacher of the Year

Muscogee Educator named Oklahoma Council for Indian Education Teacher of the Year

ADVERTISEMENT

Upcoming Events

  • There are no upcoming events.

Recommended

Indigenous storytellers take MMIW movement mainstream with new docuseries

Indigenous storytellers take MMIW movement mainstream with new docuseries

2 years ago
COVID update from the Secretary of Health

COVID update from the Secretary of Health

4 years ago
MVSKOKE Media

© 2020 MVSKOKE Media.

MVSKOKE Media

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Find Us On

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Editorial
  • Featured
  • Archives
    • Newspaper Archives
    • Radio
    • Vision
  • Creative
    • Advertising
    • Policies
  • Contact
  • Market

© 2020 MVSKOKE Media.