The Department of Justice is suing two eastern Oklahoma district attorneys over accusations that they violated tribal sovereignty.
The DOJ sued district attorneys Matt Ballard of Rogers, Mayes and Craig counties and Carol Iski of McIntosh and Okmulgee counties for prosecuting Native Americans in their districts. Federal law says state district attorneys may prosecute non-Native people for crimes against Native Americans, but may not prosecute Native Americans.
The lawsuits order Ballard and Iski stop filing such cases.
Native Americans are allowed to be prosecuted in federal and tribal courts following the 2020 McGirt v. Oklahoma decision, which ruled eastern Oklahoma was never disestablished as a reservation.
Ballard told news outlet NonDoc he believes the DOJ is trying to assert itself following an Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruling that local governments may prosecute Native defendants who are outside the reservations where they’re registered.
The state court ruled earlier this month that Tulsa could prosecute Nicholas O’Brien, an Osage citizen, for a DUI charge because he was on Muscogee land.