Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/18-9526_9okb.pdf
Page Number: 79.0

34 

MCGIRT v. OKLAHOMA 

ROBERTS, C. J., dissenting 

factor  entitled  to  weight  as  part  of  the  ‘jurisdictional  his-
tory.’ ”  Id., at 603–604 (citations omitted).

Third, consider the “subsequent demographic history” of 
the lands at issue, which provides an “ ‘additional clue’ ” as 
to the meaning of Congress’s actions.  Parker, 577 U. S., at 
___ (slip op., at 10) (quoting Solem, 465 U. S., at 472).  Con-
tinuing from statehood to the present, the population of the 
lands  has  remained  approximately  85%–90%  non-Indian.
See  Brief  for  Respondent  43;  Murphy  v.  Royal,  875  F. 3d 
896, 965 (CA10 2017).  “[T]hose demographics signify a di-
minished reservation.”  Yankton Sioux Tribe, 522 U. S., at 
357.  The Court questions whether the consideration of de-
mographic history is appropriate, ante, at 18–19, 27, but we 
have determined that it is a “necessary expedient.”  Solem, 
465 U. S., at 472, and n. 13 (emphasis added); see Parker, 
577 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 10).  And for good reason.  Our 
precedents recognize that disestablishment cases call for a
wider variety of tools than more workaday questions of stat-
utory interpretation.  Supra, at 12.  In addition, the use of 
demographic  data  addresses  the  practical  concern  that 
“[w]hen an area is predominately populated by non-Indians 
with only a few surviving pockets of Indian allotments, find-
ing that the land remains Indian country seriously burdens
the administration of state and local governments.”  Solem, 
465 U. S., at 471–472, n. 12. 

Here those burdens—the product of a century of settled
understanding—are extraordinary.  Most immediately, the
Court’s  decision  draws  into  question  thousands  of  convic-
tions obtained by the State for crimes involving Indian de-
fendants or Indian victims across several decades.  This in-
cludes convictions for serious crimes such as murder, rape,
kidnapping, and maiming.  Such convictions are now sub-
ject to jurisdictional challenges, leading to the potential re-
lease of numerous individuals found guilty under state law