Overview
- Justices declined to hear Quentin Veneno Jr. v. United States on November 10, 2025, leaving his federal conviction in place.
- Veneno, a member of the Jicarilla Apache Nation convicted of domestic assault against another tribal member, had argued that federal power does not reach intratribal crimes on tribal land.
- Justice Neil Gorsuch, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, dissented from the denial and urged the Court to overturn United States v. Kagama and the plenary-power theory he said lacks constitutional foundation.
- Gorsuch wrote that overturning Kagama would allow tribes to exercise sovereign authority over major crimes among their members without federal supervision.
- The Justice Department, in a November 2024 brief, warned that taking the case to upend Kagama would disrupt a long line of precedents recognizing broad congressional authority in Indian country.