Tulsa, Okla. — We’re getting reactions from state, county, and tribal officials on the United States Department of Justice’s lawsuit against two Oklahoma District Attorneys.
NewsChannel 8 spoke with the Cherokee Nation, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and the Rogers County Sheriff who all have a bit of a different opinion about the case.
The United States Department of Justice is suing District attorney Matthew Ballard and District attorney Carol Iski.
Both lawsuits claim these DAs have been prosecuting tribal citizens for crimes committed within Indian Country reservations, which they say shouldn’t be allowed.
Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton was involved with the arrests for all three cases mentioned in the lawsuit.
“We want to do what we said when we took our oath and that’s, you know, provide our services and the oath that we took, you know, to protect Rogers County citizens fairly across the board,” said Walton.
Earlier this week, Governor Stitt commented on the lawsuit against DA Ballard in a Facebook post saying in part, “Biden’s DOJ would rather let criminals – including drug traffickers and child abusers – go free instead of letting Oklahoma district attorneys prosecute criminals.”
Ballard also issued a statement saying in part, “The lawsuit specifically names cases my office has filed involving crimes such as producing child pornography, dealing drugs, and neglecting children. It is offensive that the federal government believes it knows better than local law enforcement how to handle child pornographers and drug dealers who are committing crimes in the neighborhoods we fight to keep safe.”
“We’ve got bad people doing bad things with legitimate victims. I mean, our job is to protect those above all,” said Walton.
The three cases named in the lawsuit against Ballard all took place on the Cherokee reservation.
NewsChannel 8 reached out to the Cherokee Nation for comment.
Cherokee Nation attorney General Chad Harsha sent us a statement saying in part, “Attempts by some law enforcement officials to circumvent the law and improperly impose state jurisdiction over tribal citizens within tribal reservation impact the integrity of criminal cases and put Oklahoma’s public safety at risk. We appreciate the Department of Justice’s action to properly enforce the law and will continue to follow this matter closely as we continue to protect our rights and sovereignty.”
The four cases in the lawsuit against Iski took place on Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
NewsChannel 8 spoke with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation attorney General who says this has been an ongoing issue.
“The lawsuit that was filed by the United States Department of Justice against District Attorneys Ballard and Iski reflect ongoing concerns that the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and apparently Cherokee Nation and most likely others of the five tribes who have re-asserted their jurisdictional authority that the recognized law under McGirt, the case that was issued by the United States Supreme Court has been circumvented, has been diminished by the state,” says Geri Wisner, the attorney General for Muscogee (Creek) Nation. “In spite of a clear established law that states do not have criminal jurisdiction over Indians, they continue to prosecute native people.”
NewsChannel 8 also reached out to the DOJ and DA Carol Iski a couple of times but have not heard back yet.
We will continue to follow up on this case and keep you updated on any new developments.
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