A federal judge dismissed a number of claims in a lawsuit that challenges the land-into-trust application of the Oneida Nation of New York.

The tribe filed an application for over 17,000 acres in two counties. After a lengthy review process, the Bureau of Indian Affairs agreed to acquire about 13,000 acres in trust.

Opponents raised a number of challenges to the acquisition but Judge Lawrence Kahn rejected claims regarding the constitutionality of the land-into-trust process, the adequacy of an environmental review of the application, the legality of the tribe's gaming operation and alleged civil rights violations.

Kahn also removed Oneida Nation Representative Ray Halbritter as a defendant and upheld the legality of a different acquisition involving the transfer of 18 acres of surplus U.S. Air Force land to the tribe.

Turtle Talk has posted documents from the case.

Get the Story:
Oneida Nation wins partial court battle (The Oneida Dispatch 3/5)
Picente on rejected land lawsuits: 'How is this helping us?' (The Utica Observer-Dispatch 3/5)
Federal court dismisses some land trust challenges (News 10 Now 3/5)

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