Double Jeopardy: Barrett Defeats Gorsuch on Tribal Law
The new justice may help undercut her conservative colleague’s staunch defense of Native American sovereignty over judicial prosecutions and sentencing.
Photographer: Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images
In a noteworthy 6-3 decision written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the Supreme Court has allowed the federal government to retry and reconvict a member of an Indian tribe who was previously tried and convicted in a special federal administrative court for Native Americans. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote a stinging dissent calling this a clear violation of double jeopardy.
The dissent solidifies Gorsuch’s role as the court’s staunchest defender of tribal sovereignty, one willing to call out historical injustices against American Indians. At the same time, the 6-3 result hints that an important 2020 decision on tribal sovereignty written by Gorsuch, McGirt v. Oklahoma, might be one of the only times Gorsuch gets a majority for his views on the issue.