Until State Remedies Exhausted, Federal Judge Won’t Hear Indian Country Arguments

(June 19, 2023, 4:31 PM EDT) -- MUSKOGEE, Okla. — A prisoner who argues that Oklahoma does not have jurisdiction over him because he is an Indian and his crimes were committed in Indian country must exhaust all state remedies before seeking habeas relief in federal court, an Oklahoma federal judge held in granting a warden’s motion to dismiss the prisoner’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus....