No. 17-1107 · decided July 9, 2020

Sharp v. Murphy

Tommy Sharp, Interim Warden v. Patrick Dwayne Murphy. No separate writings.

Set from the PDF the Court published, which is the authoritative text. The small starred numbers are that PDF’s page numbers. A conversion can introduce errors; check a quotation against the original.

Syllabus

Prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader; it is no part of the opinion of the Court.

Held: The judgment of the Court of Appeals—which held that Congress has not disestablished the Creek Reservation and thus Mr. Murphy’s crime is subject to exclusive federal jurisdiction because Mr. Murphy is an Indian and the crime occurred in Indian country—is affirmed for the reasons stated in McGirt v. Oklahoma, 591 U. S. 894 (2020).

875 F. 3d 896, affirmed.

Notes

*
Briefs of amici curiae urging reversal were filed for the State of Nebraska et al. by Douglas J. Peterson, Attorney General of Nebraska, James D. Smith, Solicitor General, David A. Lopez, Deputy Solicitor General, and Ryan S. Post, Assistant Attorney General, by Derek Schmidt, Attorney General of Kansas, Jeffrey A. Chanay, Chief Deputy Attorney General, Toby Crouse, Solicitor General, and Bryan C. Clark and Dwight R. Carswell, Assistant Solicitors General, and by the Attorneys General of their respective States as follows: Jeff Landry of Louisiana, Bill Schuette of Michigan, Tim Fox of Montana, Marty J. Jackley of South Dakota, Ken Paxton of Texas, Sean D. Reyes of Utah, and Peter K. Michael of Wyoming; for the Environmental Federation of Oklahoma, Inc., et al. by Lynn H. Slade and Sarah M. Stevenson; for the International Municipal Lawyers Association et al. by Charles W. Thompson, Jr., Amanda Kellar Karras, and Sarah M. Shalf; for the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association by Blaine H. Evanson and Anthony J. Ferate; and for the Oklahoma Sheriffs’ Association et al. by Kyle T. Cutts and Robert D. Cheren.
Briefs of amici curiae urging affirmance were filed for Historians et al. by L. Susan Work, Todd Hembree, and Chrissi Ross Nimmo; for the National Congress of American Indians by Colette Routel; for the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center et al. by Mary Kathryn Nagle; for David Boren et al. by Robert H. Henry, Michael Burrage, Stephen H. Greetham, Brad Mallett, Douglas B. L. Endreson, and Frank S. Holleman IV; and for Troy A. Eid et al. by Mr. Eid, pro se, and Jennifer H. Weddle.

Counsel

Lisa S. Blatt argued the cause for petitioner. With her on the briefs were Mike Hunter, Attorney General of Oklahoma, Mithun Mansinghani, Solicitor General, Jennifer Crabb, Assistant Attorney General, Michael K. Velchik and Randall Yates, Assistant Solicitors General, Sally L. Pei, Stephen K. Wirth, and R. Reeves Anderson.

Deputy Solicitor General Kneedler argued the cause for the United States as amicus curiae urging reversal. With him on the briefs were Solicitor General Francisco, Assistant Attorney General Clark, Acting Assistant Attorney General Wood, Erica L. Ross, William B. Lazarus, Elizabeth Ann Peterson, and James A. Maysonett.

Ian Heath Gershengorn argued the cause for respondent. With him on the briefs were Patti Palmer Ghezzi, Emma Rolls, Michael Lieberman, Zachary C. Schauf, David A. Strauss, and Sarah M. Konsky.

Riyaz A. Kanji argued the cause for Muscogee (Creek) Nation as amicus curiae urging affirmance. With him on the briefs were David A. Giampetroni and Cory J. Albright.*

Per Curiam

Per Curiam.

The judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit is affirmed for the reasons stated in McGirt v. Oklahoma, 591 U. S. 894 (2020).

It is so ordered.

Justice Gorsuch took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.

Justice Thomas and Justice Alito dissent.

← All opinions · The Justices, October Term 2019 →