Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21-429_8o6a.pdf
Page Number: 64.0

36 

OKLAHOMA v. CASTRO-HUERTA 

GORSUCH, J., dissenting 

Congress to revise criminal jurisdictional arrangements in
the  State  even  without  tribal  consent.  But  it  is  no  act  of 
statutory  or  constitutional  interpretation.    It  is  a  policy 
argument through and through.

Nor is the Court’s policy argument exactly complete in its 
assessment  of  the  costs  and  benefits.    When  this  Court 
issued  McGirt,  it  expressly  acknowledged  that  cases 
involving  crimes  by  or  against  tribal  members  within 
reservation boundaries would have to be transferred from 
state to tribal or federal authorities.  591 U. S., at ___–___ 
(slip op., at 36–42).  This Court anticipated, too, that this
process would require a period of readjustment.  But, the 
Court  recognized,  all  this  was  necessary  only  because 
Oklahoma  had  long  overreached  its  authority  on  tribal 
reservations  and  defied  legally  binding  congressional 
promises.  See ibid. 

Notably, too, neither the tribal nor the federal authorities
on the receiving end of this new workload think the “costs”
of  this  period  of  readjustment  begin  to  justify  the  Court’s 
course.  For their part, Tribes in Oklahoma have hired more 
police officers, prosecutors, and judges.  See Cherokee Brief 
10–11.  Based on that investment, Oklahoma’s Tribes have 
begun to prosecute substantially more cases than they once
did.  See  id.,  at  12–13.
  And  they  have  also  shown  a 
willingness  to  work  with  Oklahoma,  having  signed
hundreds  of  cross-deputization  agreements  allowing  local
law enforcement to collaborate with tribal police.  Id., at 15– 
16,  and  n. 39.    Even  Oklahoma’s  amici  concede  these 
agreements  have  proved  “an  important  tool”  for  law 
enforcement.  Brief  for  Oklahoma  District  Attorneys 
Association et al. as Amici Curiae 14. 

Both  of  the  federal  government’s  elected  branches  have
also  responded,  if  not  in  the  way  this  Court  happens  to
prefer.  Instead  of  forcing  state  criminal  jurisdiction  onto 
Tribes, Congress has chosen to allocate additional funds for
law  enforcement  in  Oklahoma.  See,  e.g.,  Consolidated