Syracuse, N.Y. (AP) -- A federal court on Tuesday tossed out a $248 million award to the Cayuga Indians as compensation for land taken from them in illegal treaties. Lawyers for the tribe said they would appeal.
In a 2-1 decision, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cited the Supreme Court's recent ruling in a tax case involving the Oneida Indians and the upstate New York city of Sherrill. In that case, the nation's high court said too many years had passed for the Oneidas to claim that reacquired former reservation lands were tax-exempt.
"The present case must be dismissed because the same considerations that doomed the Oneidas' claim in Sherrill apply with equal force here," Justice Jose Cabranes wrote. . . .
"[T]his is a complete victory, a complete vindication. The game is over. We win," said attorney William Dorr, who represented Cayuga and Seneca counties. . . .
"[I]f this ruling stands up, it will be the death knell for all Indian land claims based on a historic taking of land," said Martin Gold, the attorney representing the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York. "But the war is not over."
Details here from the AP via the San Francisco Chronicle. The text of the Second Circuit's opinion is here.