SCOTUS declines to hear state's request to define Native American status for law purposes

Oct. 11—The U.S. Supreme Court declined Tuesday to hear requests made by the state of Oklahoma to define Native American status for federal criminal law purposes.

Petitions were filed by the state in two cases after the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals overturned state convictions against two Native American men despite not being enrolled members of a tribal nation when the crimes were committed.

The state of Oklahoma asked the court in petitions for a writ of certiorari "what requirements must a criminal defendant satisfy to qualify as an "Indian" under the Major Crimes Act."

"The Court has never set forth a test for Indian status under the Major Crimes Act and instead explicitly left open the question raised," the state wrote in its petition. "That silence has resulted in widespread division among lower courts, has engendered numerous practical difficulties, and has only grown in importance since millions more are now recognized to live in Indian country."

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that Congress never "disestablished" the reservation status of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The ruling gave the federal government exclusive prosecutorial power in cases involving Native American defendants and victims within tribal lands under federal jurisdiction, as per the 1885 Major Crimes Act.

OCCA in 2021 applied the ruling to the Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Quapaw Nations in eastern Oklahoma.

In the first petition, Robert Wadkins was convicted in 2018 of first-degree rape and kidnapping in Choctaw County and was sentenced to a total of 45 years in prison.

A Choctaw County judge ruled that Wadkins "was not Indian at the commission of the offense" because Wadkins was not an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma despite having a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood. Court records show Wadkins became an enrolled member of the tribe on Oct. 9, 2020.

The judge also used Wadkins' enrollment in the Universal Aryan Brotherhood, his unfamiliarity with current tribal leaders, and lack of evidence he ever received assistance from the tribe in their decision.

OCCA vacated the district court's ruling and ruled that Wadkins' subsequent enrollment and other factors such as holding a CDIB card since birth and receiving tribal health services "showed he was recognized as Indian by the Choctaw Nation" and ordered his state case to be dismissed.

In the case against Emmitt Sam, a Tulsa County judge ruled the man met the burden of establishing his Native American ancestry for purposes of criminal law.

Sam was convicted of first-degree murder and two counts of robbery with a firearm and sentenced to life in prison.

The state of Oklahoma argued that Sam was not an enrolled member of a tribal nation at the time the offense occurred in 2016 and that Sam was not motived to seek enrollment into the Cherokee Nation "until it offered a way out of his life sentence."

State attorneys also argued that Sam was a member of a "black street gang" which was a rival gang to a Native American gang.

OCCA upheld the Tulsa County judge's findings and ordered the case against Sam to be dismissed due to the state not having criminal jurisdiction in the matter.

The state wrote in its petition to the U.S. Supreme Court that many people living in Oklahoma "have some fraction of Indian ancestry and interaction with tribal institutions and culture" and that without a clear test "the criminal element now has the incentive to cherry-pick that portion of their background to identify as an Indian when it allows them to escape their state conviction."

The U.S. Supreme Court previously ruled in Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez that each federally-recognized tribe can define their membership "based upon their inherent sovereignty and neither the state nor the federal government may infringe on this most basic foundational criteria."

Both Sam and Wadkins were both indicted in federal court following the dismissal of their state charges and are awaiting trial.

Contact Derrick James at djames@mcalesternews.com