Alicia Stroble is a Muscogee tribal citizen, employee and resident. She believes she should be exempt from income tax by the Oklahoma Tax Commission because she lives and earns her income inside the Muscogee reservation and is a tribal member.
She also lives on private fee land, within the Muscogee reservation, which she and her legal team said can be considered part of Indian country.
Stroble took her argument before the Oklahoma Supreme Court last year and lost in a 6-3 ruling. The majority of justices said the landmark McGirt decision — which reaffirmed the Muscogee reservation — did not extend to civil cases. The majority opinion also said the fee land where Stroble lived did not qualify as part of Indian country.
Stroble and her legal team disagreed. They filed their petition on Monday, warning that if the U.S. Supreme Court does not step in, the ability of tribal nations to provide for their communities will be hindered.
"Left unreviewed, that approach could have dramatic consequences, emboldening States and localities to attempt new taxation of Tribes and their citizens," the petition for a writ of certiorari stated. "And unless the Court intervenes, Oklahoma will continue to levy tens of millions of dollars in income taxes on Indians working and living within their Tribes' ability to provide critical governmental services to Indians and no-Indians alike."
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