Apache Stronghold v. USA, et al

  1. April 16, 2024

    Tribal Groups Want Full 9th Circ. To Rehear Oak Flat Appeal

    An Apache nonprofit is asking the Ninth Circuit's entire 29-judge panel to review its lawsuit that seeks to block a copper mining company from destroying a sacred Indigenous religious site, arguing that an en banc hearing is warranted given the appellate court's latest split decision on the land transfer.

  2. April 08, 2024

    Oak Flat Mining Decision Treads On Human Rights, UN Told

    The San Carlos Apache Tribe is urging a United Nations committee to ask the United States to withhold any permissions that would allow Resolution Copper Co. to proceed with any activity on a plot of land known as Oak Flat, arguing that a Ninth Circuit ruling allowing the land transfer merits urgent intervention to prevent further human rights violations on the sacred site.

  3. March 04, 2024

    What To Know About 9th Circ. Ruling On Tribe's Sacred Site

    A split Ninth Circuit ruling that a sacred tribal site in Arizona's Tonto National Forest can be transferred to a copper mining company is certain to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court by the San Carlos Apache Tribe, which contends that the decision effectively bulldozes a long-held worship site and ultimately denies the tribe's freedom of religious expression, despite the panel's skepticism of that claim.

  4. January 01, 2024

    The Biggest Cases To Watch In Native American Law This Year

    Disputes over administrative healthcare costs for tribes that could cost the federal government billions and Voting Rights Act cases that have the potential to undo rulings in several states all gained speed in 2023 with legal experts predicting major decisions out of the appellate courts in the new year.

  5. June 27, 2023

    Tribal Group Says Co. Can't Join 9th Circ. Copper Mine Case

    Nonprofit advocacy group Apache Stronghold told a full Ninth Circuit panel that a mining company waited too long to weigh in on its appeal to stop a land transfer the group says would wipe out an Arizona site Native Americans consider sacred to make way for North America's biggest copper mine.

  6. March 21, 2023

    9th Circ. Weighs Tribal Opposition To Ariz. Copper Mine

    The Ninth Circuit wrestled on Tuesday with the extent of federal protections for religious liberty as it revisited a controversial land exchange in Arizona at the heart of plans to build North America's largest copper mine, a project that Indigenous activists say would raze a sacred site.

  7. January 30, 2023

    Scholars Say 9th Circ. Ruling Violates Native Religious Rights

    Five religious liberty law scholars say a recent ruling by a Ninth Circuit panel that an Apache nonprofit didn't provide proof that a mining project will be a substantial burden on its religious freedoms violates the tribe's First Amendment rights, as the U.S. government continues with a proposed federal land swap for a copper mine in Arizona's Tonto National Forest.

  8. January 24, 2023

    Ariz. Chamber, Biz Interests Urge 9th Circ. To Greenlight Mine

    An Apache nonprofit's religious liberty challenge to a federal land swap for a copper mine in Arizona's Tonto National Forest does not meet a "bright-line rule" for a free exercise violation, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry told the Ninth Circuit, imploring the appellate court to uphold existing case law.

  9. January 10, 2023

    Tribes, Religious Orgs. Ask 9th Circ. To Halt Ariz. Mine Project

    Native American organizations, religious minority groups and legal scholars on Monday urged the Ninth Circuit to temporarily block a federal land swap that would enable a huge copper mine on Arizona land considered sacred by an Apache tribe, arguing the court should embrace a straightforward reading of the religious freedom law to protect the site.

  10. January 02, 2023

    Native American Cases To Watch In 2023

    All eyes are on the U.S. Supreme Court as it weighs a challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act in a case that Indigenous-rights advocates say could threaten tribal sovereignty in many other areas, depending on the extent of the final ruling.