Tribal leaders attribute this success to several factors, including tribal sovereignty, which gave tribes the flexibility to create their own methods of distributing the vaccine, and cultural values that prioritize elders and community.
Muscogee Nation Lighthorse Police Officer Amy Bennett
A U.S. Supreme Court decision from last year has changed law enforcement in the state of Oklahoma. That decision restored tribal authority to both police crimes and prosecute criminals. It’s also led to greater responsibility for Muscogee Nation officers, known as Lighthorsemen.
On a recent Friday night, Lighthorse Police Officer Amy Bennett was in the parking lot of the River Spirit Casino near downtown Tulsa. The area is already bustling with traffic and people headed into the casino for a night out.
Bennett is 48 with straight blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail and tattoos-including a pair of handcuffs with a rose threaded through inked down both arms.
State gaming commission proposal clears House committee
Compact supporters acknowledge possible legal challenges.
Has gambling outgrown state regulators? Some lawmakers think so.
A House subcommittee OK’d two bills on Monday, one that would create a state commission to enforce gaming laws and another that would provide the commission a public record exemption.
The primary bill (
HB 3A) would establish the Florida Gaming Control Commission and crown it Florida’s lead law enforcement agency on gambling.
Currently, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) oversees pari-mutuel gambling in Florida such as cardrooms and horse racing.
Proponents of the bill, however, contend the department is struggling to manage gaming within the state.
TAHLEQUAH â Leaders from the Cherokee and Chickasaw nations are endorsing what they call narrow federal legislation that would authorize tribal-state compacting on criminal jurisdiction.
The bill, which was expected to be introduced in Congress on May 11, addresses âongoing jurisdictional challengesâ in the wake of a 2020 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in McGirt v. Oklahoma.
âWhen it comes to McGirt â the most monumental Indian Country case in generations and one thatâs going to take a great deal of resources and energy â we need more options,â Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said during a May 10 press briefing. âWe need the ability to do what weâve done so well for so many years, which is to cooperate.â
State Agencies Combat Trillions Of Cyber Attacks In 2 Months
Whether it is attacks on critical infrastructure like the Colonial Pipeline along the East Coast, or governments like the City of Tulsa and Seminole Nation, the state s top cyber security expert says the volume of hacks will likely only increase.
“I think the law of averages is going to tell you that we are going to see more and more of these things,” Oklahoma Chief Information Security Officer Matt Singleton said.
And for the state of Oklahoma, the number of attacks has been off the charts.
“In the first 60 days of 2021, we had 3.8 trillion security events where there were some probes against the state network that needed to be defeated,” Singleton said. That breaks down to 700 attacks per second.