Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21-429_8o6a.pdf
Page Number: 61.0

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

33 

GORSUCH, J., dissenting 

simply gone free.”  Ante, at 3–4.  On both counts, however, 
the Court conspicuously loads the dice. 

1 

Start with the assertion that allowing state prosecutions 
in cases like ours will “help” Indians.  The old paternalist 
overtones are hard to ignore.  Yes, under the laws Congress
has  ordained  Oklahoma  may  acquire  jurisdiction  over 
crimes  by  or  against  tribal  members  only  with  tribal 
consent.  But  to  date,  the  Cherokee  have  misguidedly
shown  no  interest  in  state  jursidiction.  Thanks  to  their 
misjudgment, they have rendered themselves “second-class
citizens.”  Ante, at 20.  So, the argument goes, five unelected 
judges in Washington must now make the “right” choice for
the Tribe.  To state the Court’s staggering argument should 
be enough to refute it.

Nor  does  the  Court  even  pause  to  consider  some  of  the
reasons why the Cherokee might not be so eager to invite
state prosecutions in cases like ours.  Maybe the Cherokee 
have so far withheld their consent because, throughout the
Nation’s history, state governments have sometimes proven 
less than reliable sources of justice for Indian victims.  As 
early as 1795, George Washington observed that “a Jury on 
the frontiers” considering a crime by a non-Indian against 
an Indian could “hardly be got to listen to a charge, much 
less to convict a culprit.”  Letter to E. Pendleton (Jan. 22),
in  17  Papers  of  George  Washington:  Presidential  Series 
424, 426 (D. Hoth & C. Ebel eds. 2013).  Undoubtedly, too,
Georgia  once  proved  among  the  Cherokee’s  “deadliest
enemies.”  Kagama, 118 U. S., at 384. 

Maybe  the  Cherokee  also  have  in  mind  experiences
particular  to  Oklahoma.  Following  statehood,  settlers
embarked on elaborate schemes to deprive Indians of their 
lands,  rents,  and  mineral  rights.  “Many  young  allottees 
were  virtually  kidnaped  just  before  they  reached  their
majority”; some were “induced to sign deeds at midnight on