This week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a lawsuit against the Housing Authority of the Town of Lone Wolf, Oklahoma and two of its former employees. A DOJ press release from December 15, 2020 announced a lawsuit that alleges that former employees David Haynes and Myrna Hess violated the Fair Housing Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when they refused an African-American woman’s housing application for her and her five-year-old daughter on the basis of race.

Thousands of Oklahoma convictions of Creek Nation members on reservation land may be dismissed following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma. In that case, the Supreme Court held that only the tribes and federal government may prosecute Native Americans living in most of Eastern Oklahoma for crimes committed there. This holding may be extended to dismiss potentially thousands of state convictions for retrial by either tribal governments or the U.S. Department of Justice.