Supreme court expands states’ power to prosecute crimes on tribal lands

Cherokee nation says ruling represents attack on tribe's sovereignty but Oklahoma governor hails pivotal moment'

A US supreme court decision on Wednesday that allows state prosecutors to pursue criminal cases for crimes committed by non-Native persons against Native persons on tribal land has spurred condemnation from tribal leaders and members - who have described the ruling as an attack on their autonomy.

This ruling stems from the state criminal case Oklahoma v Castro-Huerta. Victor Castro-Huerta was charged by Oklahoma state prosecutors in 2015 for neglecting his five-year-old stepdaughter, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Castro-Huerta, who is not a Native, abused the child on the Cherokee reservation, according to Mother Jones.