On Friday, a district court judge dismissed Hooper v. Tulsa, a case that challenged the City of Tulsa’s right to issue traffic citations to tribal citizens.
The case made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year before it was remanded to district court.
U.S. District Judge William P. Johnson dismissed the case and wrote in his order that a previous ruling stands.
“As a matter of Tenth Circuit law, Section 14 of the Curtis Act no longer applies to Tulsa and therefore Tulsa no longer has jurisdiction over municipal violations committed by its Indian inhabitants.” Johnson said.
In that case, the City of Tulsa argued it had jurisdiction over tribal citizens via the Curtis Act, which took power away from tribal governments in 1898. The judges in both cases seem to agree that the Curtis Act no longer applies to Tulsa.
Without that, the courts point to the U.S. Supreme Court McGirt Ruling, which said because the Creek Nation’s reservation was never disestablished, state courts did not have the authority to prosecute crimes committed by or against Oklahomans who are also tribal members.
Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum told KRMG Monday that police would continue to write traffic tickets to everyone.
“Nothing has changed from a law enforcement standpoint in Tulsa.” Bynum said. “We’ll continue to apply the laws equally to everybody.”
Bynum said he’d like to see the State of Oklahoma work with the tribes and state lawmakers to find a clear path forward.
Attorneys for Justin Hooper said the decision was a victory for their client.
Meantime, the jurisdiction question may be decided in an ongoing case filed by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation against the City in November.