Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21-429_8o6a.pdf
Page Number: 29.0

Cite as:  597 U. S. ____ (2022) 

1 

GORSUCH, J., dissenting 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

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No. 21–429 
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OKLAHOMA, PETITIONER v. VICTOR MANUEL 
CASTRO-HUERTA 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF CRIMINAL 
APPEALS OF OKLAHOMA 

[June 29, 2022] 

JUSTICE GORSUCH, with whom JUSTICE BREYER, JUSTICE 

SOTOMAYOR, and JUSTICE KAGAN join, dissenting. 

In  1831,  Georgia  arrested  Samuel  Worcester,  a  white
missionary, for preaching to the  Cherokee on tribal lands 
without  a  license.  Really,  the  prosecution  was  a  show  of 
force—an attempt by the State to demonstrate its authority
over  tribal  lands.    Speaking  for  this  Court,  Chief  Justice
Marshall  refused  to  endorse  Georgia’s  ploy  because  the
State  enjoyed  no  lawful  right  to  govern  the  territory  of  a
separate  sovereign.  See  Worcester  v.  Georgia,  6  Pet.  515, 
561 (1832).  The Court’s decision was deeply unpopular, and 
both Georgia and President Jackson flouted it.  But in time, 
Worcester came to be recognized as one of this Court’s finer 
hours.  The  decision  established  a  foundational  rule  that 
would persist for over 200 years:  Native American Tribes 
retain their sovereignty unless and until Congress ordains
otherwise.  Worcester proved that, even in the “[c]ourts of 
the conqueror,” the rule of law meant something.  Johnson’s 
Lessee v. McIntosh, 8 Wheat. 543, 588 (1823). 

Where  this  Court  once  stood  firm,  today  it  wilts.    After 
the Cherokee’s exile to what became Oklahoma, the federal 
government  promised  the  Tribe  that  it  would  remain  for-
ever free from interference by state authorities.  Only the 
Tribe or the federal government could punish crimes by or
against tribal members on tribal lands.  At various points