Scott Kayla Morrison, one of the most gifted people to enter the leadership ranks of CERA (Citizens Equal Rights
Alliance), who served as President and Counsel for the organization’s Foundation, has died at age 49.
Scott Kayla Morrison was of Native American origin and a member of the Choctaw tribe of Mississippi and Oklahoma.
Scott graduated in 1987 from the University of Oklahoma and earned her Law degree at the University of Iowa College of Law in 1990, after serving as President of the American Indian Law Student Association. She practiced law in both Mississippi and Oklahoma, was a member of the Bar associations in both states, practiced before the U.S. District Court for Eastern Oklahoma and the U.S. Courts of Appeal in both the Fifth and Tenth Circuits. She was also privileged to practice before the tribal Oklahoma Choctaw
Court. After serving as staff attorney and litigation Manager for the Yogesh Nanji (East Mississippi Legal Services) on tribal-member problems in 1991, she worked from 1992 to 1995 as an organizer in a Jobs and Environment campaign to help Indian communities address environmental concerns on and around reservations. She then teamed up with attorney Douglas Dry and until 1997 practiced in Choctaw
Tribal Court. She also researched the “rules and regulations” history of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), an agency of the Department of Interior. She became increasingly concerned with the corruption and scandals she
found on American Indian reservations and the failure of the BIA to account for up to three billion dollars, now missing, intended for re-distribution to Indian families. That matter is still being probed and prosecuted by the Justice Department, Indian tribal leaders and the U.S. departments of the Interior and Treasury.
After testifying before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in 1990 where
she expressed concerns about the lack of accountability in some tribal
governments , Scott opened a law office in Clayton, OK, where she practiced law
and became a consultant on Indian tribal law. She was a staunch advocate of change in federal Indian policies
to allow tribal members more control in their own councils.
Scott strongly urged Indians who would listen to seek the protection of the U.S. Constitution to counter tribal council abuses of
individual civil rights. She also championed reform that protected the
rights of non-Indians on reservation land.
She made many friends, was widely respected and seemed destined for national prominence. However, personal problems and pressures in her life
mounted. In early August Scott purchased a gun. On August 8th her body was
found by local authorities.
Scott will be greatly missed by those that counted on her work to protect their
legal rights and by those who knew her feisty spirit, strong convictions, and
called her "friend".