Oak Flat copper mine lawsuit is headed to the Supreme Court after 9th Circuit ruling

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AZ Central

Published 2:43 p.m. MT May 14, 2024 | Updated 4:05 p.m. MT May 14, 2024


Grassroots group Apache Stronghold will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its plea to preserve Oak Flat from obliteration by a copper mine after the full Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday refused to review the case.

On April 15, the group asked the entire 29-judge Ninth Circuit panel to review its lawsuit against the United States and Resolution Copper. That move followed an opinion issued by an en banc panel of 11 appeals court judges that ruled narrowly against Apache Stronghold in March. The court asserted that the mine would not pose a substantial burden on Apache people's First Amendment religious rights.

Several religious rights groups and religious leaders called upon the appeals court to move forward with a full 29-judge hearing. Groups ranging from the Mennonite Church to Sikhs, Muslins, religious scholars, tribes and the Christian Legal Society have filed briefs supporting Apache Stronghold. The 11-justice panel rejected the request in an amended ruling Tuesday.

The opinion and other decisions on Native religious rights on public lands are based on a 1988 ruling by the Supreme Court that held that putting a logging road through a sacred grove of trees did not pose such a burden to their First Amendment rights. That decision was listed by noted Pawnee legal expert Walter Echo-Hawk as one of the 10 worst-ever Indian law decisions.

Read more: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environment/2024/05/14/apache-stronghold-to-appeal-resolution-copper-case-to-supreme-court/73688120007/

[cstanleytech]

1. What if was the land in question was Arlington National Cemetery?

Edit: And yes I did just go to the group fighting this in Court to prevent it and suggested that use that.

[GB_RN]

2. Muslins?

Groups ranging from the Mennonite Church to Sikhs, Muslins, religious scholars, tribes and the Christian Legal Society have filed briefs supporting Apache Stronghold.

*Emphasis mine. So, bolts of cotton cloth have gotten involved?😂

[BumRushDaShow]

3. Looks like the old

"auto-correct" fail (along with no Editors) strikes again!

[Wonder Why]

4. And the Woolites and Nylonders, too!

[GB_RN]

6. Sir...

The Rayons would like a word…😁

[Wonder Why]

5. Their only hope is to provide Thomas and Alioto with more benefits than the billionaires do.

[Bayard]

7. Savaging land that once belonged to the Apache

"We will ask the Supreme Court take this case, protect Oak Flat, and ensure that Indigenous peoples receive the same protection for religious freedom that all other faith groups enjoy.”"

They wouldn't do this to a Baptist or Catholic church.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. "They wouldn't do this to a Baptist or Catholic church."

In some cases they have (taken/sold land)... to pay off settlements for decades of sexual assaults, after they filed bankruptcy.

[Bayard]

9. Maybe

But they didn't grab a church because they thought that religion was irrelevant.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. If you have properties that are not maintained

and become a fire or debris hazard, then yeah, they can be shut down/taken regardless of the religion.

[NanaCat]

11. Apples and oranges

The seizure in that case was after lawsuits ruled in favour of plaintiffs, and were compensation for injuries. It had nothing to do with the legitimacy of the religion, unlike this case.

Nobody would dare to tear down a Christian church to excavate some copper, but greedy bigots will do it in a tick to the sites important to other religions, because they don't consider any religion not Christian legitimate, thus not worthy of respect. Worse, courts too often have ruled in agreement with that assessment.

Maybe one needs to be something other than Christian to see the religious discrimination going on here. As bloody usual.

[BumRushDaShow]

13. I see some on DU

are humor-challenged.

ETA, RW crossing-burning "Christians" who were part of the Ku Klux Klan, most certainly made sure to try to destroy a black Christian church and kill the children in it and it didn't matter if it was for "copper".







More history needs to be taught.

[Bayard]

15. I agree--more history needs to be taught

But that's not going to happen in the current wacky environment.

The difference is, the black churches were not built on public land, nor authorized by the government to be exploited. That history is tragic in its own right.

[BumRushDaShow]

16. The "government" (federal/state/local) can declare "private" property as "public" through easements

obtained when declaring that property "public" through "eminent domain", and just take it away. That's how the railroads and highways got constructed, notably when an offer for what was dubbed "fair market value" for the property was rejected by the property owner.

[Igel]

17. Why not? Except for publicity and local popular resistance against the project.

Not because the Federal government would declare the space "sacred". If they did that, groups like Freedom from Religion would immediately either stroke out or file suit after suit.

Local, state, federal projects have relocated graveyards. I drive by one non-relocated graveyard each day--it's what's left of one, on a narrow strip of land between I-95 and the frontage road heading north next to the freeway. One parking spot there, a few old tombstones.

The churches in Sparrows Point were summarily seized and razed by Bethlehem Steel in the '70s when they wanted the land for the L furnace that was going to save the steel mill (but didn't faced with cheap Chinese iron and boutique European steel).

[BumRushDaShow]

18. Since you mention graveyards

a biggy in downtown Manhattan, was what eventually became the "African Burial Ground National Monument" where after centuries of existence, the federal government planned to dig it all up and build a federal office tower at the location.


Maerschalck map 1754 The Maerschalck map of the City of New York is a historic map made in 1754 that clearly shows the African Burial Ground and its surrounding neighborhood
Library of Congress

They kept at it (this was under Poppy) despite knowing it was a historic slave cemetery, but with sustained protests, the desecration was halted and new plans were adopted.

Similarly, uptown in Harlem, a similar site existed, naturally taken over and with a transit depot on the land (now abandoned).




Work is being done to reclaim the site - https://edc.nyc/project/east-126th-harlem-african-burial-ground-project

[NanaCat]

10. Oak Flat by Lauren Redniss

Is a 2020 graphic non-fiction work that offers a good overview of the Oak Flat controversy. No, it's not an exhaustive analysis, but it is a superb introduction to what's going on for people unfamiliar with what's at stake. The format makes it a quick read, too.

More info for those interested here:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/547092/oak-flat-by-lauren-redniss/

[Bayard]

14. I see that Walmart has it for less than $10

Ordering. Thanks!

[NanaCat]

20. I have the Kindle eBook

It's normally $7, but I think I got it for $3.

Some of my necessary meds cause severe photosensitivity. I can manage a few pages, but more than that gives me terrible headaches from eye strain. The Kindle lets me read white-on-black, and I can even adjust the font size so that I can get the print at a size that works best for me.

Wish DU would allow dark mode for all members, as a courtesy to the vision-impaired.

[poozwah]

19. justice

once again, the courts have decided that christianity is the only religion.

[CousinIT]

21. They'll rule for the corprats & billionaires. They always do. n/t