US EditionPublished • loading... • Updated
Supreme Court Declines to Hear Native American Fight to Save Sacred Site Threatened by Copper Mine
The land transfer approved in 2014 threatens Oak Flat, a site used for centuries in Western Apache religious ceremonies, with legal challenges citing First Amendment protections.
- On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to step into a land-transfer dispute in Arizona that the Western Apache say threatens Oak Flat, rejecting rehearing in Apache Stronghold v. United States.
- Congress approved the transfer in 2014, and President Donald Trump initiated the land exchange in the final days of his first term; a federal appeals court halted the transfer earlier this year.
- Lower courts, including the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, ruled the transfer did not substantially burden religious exercise but paused it in August over environmental-review issues.
- The land at Oak Flat, used for centuries in tribal ceremonies, remains contested as two conservative justices, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas, dissented and Samuel Alito did not participate.
- The case raises questions about how courts review religious burdens under the First Amendment free exercise clause, and petitioners sought reconsideration after a later conservative ruling on LGBTQ classroom exemptions.
Insights by Ground AI
13 Articles
13 Articles
Supreme Court declines to hear cases on gun laws, American Indian sacred site, and other controversial issues
The Supreme Court on Monday morning issued a long list of orders from the justices’ private conference on Sept. 29. At that conference, sometimes dubbed the “long conference,” the justices considered the large group of petitions for review that had accumulated over their summer recess, which officially ended on Oct. 6. The justices added five new cases to their 2025-26 docket on Friday. As expected, Monday’s 39-page order list did not add any ad…
Supreme Court declines to hear Native American fight to save sacred site threatened by copper mine
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to step into a fight over a land transfer in Arizona that the Western Apache people say will destroy a sacred site in order to build a massive copper mine.
·Atlanta, United States
Read Full ArticleCoverage Details
Total News Sources13
Leaning Left3Leaning Right1Center8Last UpdatedBias Distribution67% Center
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources are Center
67% Center
L 25%
C 67%
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
