Tulsa World // Intern Project Melissa Miller, whose daughter Molly has been missing for 10 years, lights a candle for Misty Miller Howell during a July 9 vigil for Molly in Marietta. Molly's disappearance is one of many Indigenous cases in Oklahoma with jurisdictional issues and conflicts further complicated by McGirt v. Oklahoma. Karlie Boothe, Tulsa World. By Neal Franklin Ten years ago, Molly Miller disappeared when she was 17. Since then, her case has been handled by at least seven different law enforcement agencies. Miller’s family named Carter County, Love County, the Ringling Police Department, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, the Chickasaw Nation Lighthorse Police and the Bureau of Indian Affairs as agencies that investigated. “Their biggest problem is there’s so many agencies involved in this case that they don’t have all the information in one place,” said Paula Miller Fielder, a distant cousin of the family’s who has worked to find Miller. “It’s scattered everywhere.” Miller’s disappearance is one of many Indigenous cases in Oklahoma with jurisdictional issues and conflicts. Those issues and conflicts are now more difficult to address because of the landmark Supreme Court ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma. And the caseloads are growing. Since the McGirt ruling, the number of criminal cases the Cherokee Nation Attorney General’s Office handles has increased from less than 100 cases to almost 4,000. Transitioning to tribal jurisdictionFactors like location, ethnicity and the nature of a crime can change where a case belongs. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the McGirt case says tribal nations or federal agencies should prosecute cases involving Indigenous people in “Indian Country” instead of state agencies. “It’s been difficult for the transformation, for the states and the counties to understand,” said Shawnna Roach, who has worked in law enforcement for over 20 years. “It’s just reversed now.” Violence against Indigenous people a product of culture that devalues Native women, expert saysEthnicity is used to determine whether a case falls within tribal jurisdiction. However, Indigenous people have been miscategorized by law enforcement agencies before, Roach said. NamUs lists Miller as being American Indian and white. However, OSBI lists Miller only as white. “A lot of times they’re just put in as a white individual,” said Roach, criminal investigator with the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service. “We know there’s a lot more cases out there.” Major crimes involving citizens of a tribal nation, either as the victim or the person accused of a crime, are still handled by the FBI, in accordance with the Major Crimes Act. The FBI requires tribal investigators to meet certain evidence and case-severity criteria for the federal government to prosecute the case. Tribal courts can only seek sentences of a maximum of nine years. Tribal nations have similar or the same laws as the state, Roach said. However, tribal nations didn’t pick up the sentencing guidelines along with it, leaving them fairly limited on their judicial power. Cherokee Nation Attorney General Sara Hill explained that a nine-year sentence can only be reached by prosecuting multiple charges and stacking the sentences. Without stacking charges, the maximum sentence for homicide is three years, according to the Cherokee Nation Tribal Code. Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said his tribe has grown their justice system after the McGirt ruling by hiring prosecutors, marshals and advocates. “There still should be an examination of the limitations that the United States places on tribes in terms of prosecuting law-breakers and the punishment we can mete out,” Hoskin told the Tulsa World. “We’re still living in an era in which the United States does not seem to trust tribes and tribal governments with fully holding people accountable.” Agencies pivot to Indigenous peopleAs tribes reorganize their justice processes and increase their law enforcement resources, federal and state agencies have created new positions to investigate the cases of missing or murdered Indigenous people. In order to simplify some of the jurisdictional issues, the Cherokee Nation has agreements with some law enforcement agencies to cross-deputize officials so they can pursue cases involving tribal citizens. In 2021, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland created the Missing and Murdered Unit in the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services. Special Agent Vincent Marcellino, the agent assigned to the unit stationed in Oklahoma City and a member of the Cherokee Nation, said working for the unit was a mission for him instead of a job. “When I first learned that Secretary Haaland put together the Missing and Murdered Unit and an opening became available in Oklahoma, I knew right then I had to apply,” Marcellino said. “I know the work that I do gives the victims and families a voice that they haven’t had before.” Since it was established, the unit has received 126 referrals in the state as of July, Marcellino said. Miller’s case is one of those. In June, the Department of Justice announced 10 attorneys and coordinators would be hired to target missing and murdered Indigenous persons cases across the U.S. In previous years, attorneys would be appointed for only a short time by the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s office or the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Attorney General for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Geri Wisner said. The new attorneys could be an improvement. “We want them here to be a team member, and a team member isn’t here for one minute and then gone,” Wisner said. State officials also increased their focus on solving the cases of missing or murdered Indigenous people after the OSBI established a tribal liaison in 2021 in accordance with Senate Bill 172, or Ida’s Law. Ida Beard, the law’s namesake, is a member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes and went missing eight years ago. Special Agent Dale Fine assumed the role in 2021 but vacated the position recently. Special Agent Josh Patzkowski took on the job, according to a statement from the OSBI, but was not made available for interviews. “As in the case of our previous liaison, OSBI fills this position with a current senior agent, who has expertise in the challenges facing Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, their families, and their communities,” the OSBI wrote in a statement. Not knowing jurisdictionThe average person who just lost a family member isn’t thinking of jurisdiction. They’re just in survival mode, said Darcie Parton-Scoon, a private investigator who has worked tribal cases in Oklahoma since 2013 and is a member of the Caddo Nation. “They’re just calling 911,” she said. “They don’t think about who is on the other end.” Play VideoJason Kyle Wickens performs at a July 9 vigil in Marietta for Molly Miller, whose case has bounced between seven different law enforcement agencies. Miller disappeared July 8, 2013. On that day 10 years later, family and friends gathered for a vigil in Marietta. Miller’s mother, Melissa Henderson, described her daughter as someone who made friends quickly. She went missing along with her boyfriend, Colt Haynes, after being dropped off along Long Hollow Road in Love County, according to the OSBI. Fielder said in Miller’s case, working with law enforcement agencies has frustrated her. But the case recently landed with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Fielder has faith that the BIA will solve the case. Meanwhile, Henderson placed her faith in the Ringling Police Department. Miller disappeared between counties and on Chickasaw Nation land. Henderson said that could happen to anyone. “Molly probably didn’t know she was in another county,” Henderson said. Jurisdictional confusion complicates cases, Hoskin said. He explained that not only does this confusion allow for a lack of justice, but it upholds a history of systemic racism in the country. “Marginalized people, in this country, have less chance of getting justice, they have less chance of getting economic justice, they have less chance of getting justice before the courts of the United States. ... That’s a fact it’s demonstrable,” Hoskin said. “You can go across this population, and you can see that it is very much true in Indian Country ... historic actions of oppression and suppression and dispossession have resulted in populations that often live in the shadows. Suffering economic and social woes that the rest of the country would be appalled if they could see and would hang their heads with regret.”
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AuthorI am a writer pursuing a career in Journalism who has covered topics in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the D.C. area and American University. Archives
April 2024
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