The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the McGirt v. Oklahoma case may be setting dangerous criminals free on technicalities.

Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler thinks it is a big problem and is urging citizens to contact the U.S. Congress to remedy the situation.

Without a vote of the people, the McGirt decision is changing how criminal cases are handled in much of Oklahoma, including Tulsa.

Last year in July, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jimcy McGirt when his attorney argued that the Muskogee (Creek) Nation Reservation is still in place because it was never dissolved by Congress when Oklahoma became a state. That decision has been determined to mean that the State of Oklahoma has no jurisdiction over crimes committed by Native Americans or against them on the reservation.

According to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation website, everyone – including Indians – who lives in Oklahoma is still a citizen of Oklahoma. The McGirt decision does not affect anyone’s property ownership.

However, “Generally, any Indian, not just Muscogee (Creek) citizens, can be subject to criminal prosecution by the Creek Nation or the federal government for any crime occurring anywhere within the Reservation boundaries. The State be able to prosecute crimes where both the offender and victim are non-Indian and where the crime occurs anywhere within the Reservation boundaries, not just on land owned by the Tribe or a Tribal citizen,” according to the website.”

The website said the ruling doesn’t mean that prisoners would be automatically released and it predicts that it will impact few convictions. Anyone who might be affected generally could be retried under tribal or federal law.

Family members and friends of five victims killed by a hit-and-run case showed up for Kunzweiler’s townhall. In 2007, Kimberly Elizabeth Graham, a Cherokee Nation citizen, was convicted in Tulsa County District Court of five counts of first-degree manslaughter plus leaving the scene of an attack.

Her conviction may be overturned due to the McGirt decision.

And because of the statute of limitations for manslaughter in federal law, she can’t be tried a second time should she be released. And under federal tribal law, tribal courts are limited to three year’s sentences per offense.

At present, Graham is serving a sentence of 107 years.

And when a Native American is a victim of a crime and the criminal is a non-Native person, neither the tribe or the State of Oklahoma has jurisdiction. It would then be up to the federal courts and their dockets are not sized to handle the potential caseload.

State and tribal officials are working to solve some of these problems but Kunzweiler insists that Congress must step and correct these problems.