Oklahoma Supreme Court Rejects Reparations Claim for Tulsa Race Massacre
The court rejected the “new ‘unlimited and unprincipled’ form of liability” siding with the massacre victims would have created.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court today rejected a reparations claim from survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The plaintiffs made two claims: public nuisance and unjust enrichment.
The high court affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of the claims, which resulted in this appeal, as Legal Insurrection reported.
The plaintiffs’ public nuisance claim alleged they “continue[d] to face racially disparate treatment and City-created barriers to basic human needs” after the massacre.
The plaintiffs’ unjust enrichment claim “alleged that Defendants appropriated the name ‘Black Wall Street,’ a moniker for the [destroyed] Greenwood neighborhood” in tourism materials “without returning any of those benefits to members of the community” and thus unjustly enriching themselves.
Oklahoma Supreme Court’s Holding
“We . . . hold that Plaintiffs’ grievances do not fall within the scope of our state’s public nuisance statute,” the decision reads, “and Plaintiffs’ allegations do not support a claim for . . . unjust enrichment.”
The court rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that the “lingering consequences” of the massacre created a public nuisance: “The continuing blight alleged . . . implicates generational-societal inequities that can only be resolved by policymakers—not the courts.”
“Today’s holding,” the court continued, “is consistent with our recent public nuisance jurisprudence: expanding public nuisance liability to include lingering social inequities from historical tragedies and injustices runs the risk of creating a new ‘unlimited and unprincipled’ form of liability.”
Under such a liability theory, “both State and non-State actors could be held liable for their predecessors’ wrongdoing, in which current actors played no part.”
The court also rejected the plaintiffs’ unjust enrichment claim, finding the “Defendants’ fundraising and community development efforts [referencing Black Wall Street]—absent fraud, abuse of confidence, or unconscionable conduct—do not amount to a claim of unjust enrichment.”
“The City of Tulsa respects the court’s decision and affirms the significance of the work the City continues to do in the North Tulsa and Greenwood communities,” a city representative told Legal Insurrection. “[T]he City remains committed to working with residents and providing resources to support the North Tulsa and Greenwood communities.”
Background on the Massacre
Rejecting the claim, the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s opinion recognized the unusual nature of this case in that “the tragedy that forms the basis of the present appeal is acknowledged and memorialized, at least in part, in Oklahoma law.”
Oklahoma law memorializes part of the findings of a state commission on the massacre, which the law describes as a “breakdown of the rule of law in Tulsa” after “an assembled white mob” responded to an alleged attempted rape of a white woman by a black man.
The commission’s memorialized findings state that “some local municipal and county officials failed to take actions to calm or contain the situation once violence erupted and, in some cases, became participants in the subsequent violence . . . and even deputized and armed many whites who were part of a mob that killed, looted, and burned down” a predominantly black neighborhood in Tulsa.
“The staggering cost of the Tulsa Race Riot included the deaths of an estimated 100 to 300 persons, the vast majority of whom were African-Americans, [and] the destruction of 1,256 homes,” the commission found.
The commission estimated property damage at “approximately $2 million in 1921 dollars or $16,752,600 in 1999 dollars.”
“Even after the initial violence subsided, local officials engaged in actions that exacerbated the harm,” the opinion notes, by refusing to release black arrestees without “the application of a white person.” Officials also imposed onerous rebuilding requirements that made rebuilding too expensive, as noted by the commission’s findings.
The opinion:
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Comments
This is exactly why Western Civilization, in it’s Anglo form, disallowed generational grievances.
Those making such claims are racist contemporary grifters.
Counter sue for the BLM riots.
As part of a plea deal, Brooks pleaded guilty in 2014 to charges of false imprisonment, simple battery/family, simple battery and felony cruelty/cruelty to children, and he was sentenced to one year in prison and six years on probation, according to court records. Two years later, he was sent back to prison for 12 months for violating his probation.
And, the Watts riots, D.C. riots, 1992 L.A. riots.
There were some BLM protests in Tulsa but not any outright riots as I recall.
according to the left:
words are violence
so we have that to deal with
Their words are violence.
Oklahoma City
On May 30, protesters gathered at Northwest 23rd Street and Classen Boulevard around 7:30 p.m. for a peaceful protest. However, the protest soon grew violent as reports of vandalism and looting were made, and police employed tear gas at least three times and arrested 13 people.[11] On May 31, another violent protest was held outside the police department where a Trump 2020 flag was burned. Mayor David Holt set a 10:00 p.m. curfew, and at least 25 more arrests were made. Black Lives Matter, who had organized protests that afternoon at the Oklahoma State Capitol, denied any involvement in the evening riots.[12] The local BLM chapter followed up with a list of demands toward city leaders, which included an apology from Holt and the resignation of the local police chief.[13]
On June 6, protesters in the Bricktown district marched to Harkins Theatres chanting “I can’t breathe” and “Black Lives Matter”.[14] On June 12, hundreds more protesters marched from Harkins Theatres to the Oklahoma City Police Department’s headquarters, where they confronted officers about the deaths of unarmed black Americans at the hands of police.[15]
I said Tulsa, not OKC. Separate cities with roughly an hour and a half drive between them via turnpike.
As for the decision: good! Hope it puts an end to this issue
It NEVER ends. NEVER!!!
The so-called “victims” on the Left will never stop attacking the rest of the country.
and then it empowers the leftists to do more
oh,,no bail
no jail
pro criminal DA
etc etc
This was actually less insane than the generic claim for reparations. At least the suit originally involved actual alleged victims, not parties removed by generations and lacking any verifiable claim to injury.
If you’re referring to the BLM movement, it didn’t involve victims. It was founded on the lie that a white man pursued and shot an innocent Trayvon Martin. It was all a lie, as came out in court testimony and eye witnesses. Same with the hands up, don’t shoot claims by BLM. Turned out to be completely false. BLM was founded on lies, and made a few black people rich at the expense of other blacks.
There are 49 other States and the Federal courts so, no.
I think that the plaintiffs would have had greater success if they limited their claims to damages for all of the survivors along the lines of the Japanese interment survivors.
Internment. The ones interred did not survive.
not its just a matter of time until the left removes those who oppose them from the courts
they are already working on the double standards for the courts ( like they have successfully done in the rest of society)
chuck scummer was caught flat out making public threats against scotus justices ..not an opinion but a fact
the scotus justices were even to fearful to look at that texas and other states request during the 2020 elections in which PA CLEARLY violated their own laws and allowed some committee to dictate when votes cna be counted etc
they were fearful for their lives as the summer of love armies swept through america to demand their right to pillage and plagiarize
what about reparations for victims of crime from the blmplo community of say the last 5 years!?!!?
we dont have to go back decades
lets start with that “room to destroy” agenda and have $$$ payback to the victims
I remember when the Serbs and Croats were going at it, and wrecked Yugoslavia. Picking at generational scabs is stupid.
In the US, we developed principles for correcting the wrongs of the past by making the playing field even, going forward. That is, establishing equal rights under the laws, and due process of law for all citizens. We should affirm those principles.
One of the things that DJT did well was promise an equal playing field for those families in depressed areas (many black families). He then took steps to consult with people from those areas, and brings jobs to them. That is a big part of how blacks and hispanics are changing their voting patterns.
You forgot the Bosniaks – the muslims in Bosnia. They were a big part of the festivities.
(And, as the “oppressed” group, the whole reason we were there.)
Thank you Oklahoma .
God bless Oklahoma.
after being convicted of burning down a Wnedys blm “peaceful protesers” received this as punishment
Chisom Kingston and Natalie Hanna White each entered negotiated guilty pleas Thursday, according to Fulton County court documents. They each pleaded guilty to two counts of arson and one count of conspiracy to commit arson and received identical sentences of five years on probation and $500 fines.
and the lies:
The Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church and a Democratic candidate for US Senate, noted Brooks was killed while running away and George Floyd was killed by police while complying.
nope:
brooks was killed when he grabbed the officers taser
and floyd was not complying ( even though Chavin should not have been pinning him the way he was)
Chavin had every right to pin George the way he did
the only pics I saw ( was allowed to see) was Chavins knee on Floyds neck
all the drugs and bad health aside ( cause that is what probably actually was Floyds demise)
there might have been a better way and that knee to the neck is how you can choke a person out obviously with a bit of variation
it didnt matter if floyd would have died with no leo near him,,the cops were going to be blamed
but the knee to the neck? not a good thing
The knee was on the upper back not the neck.
No knee on neck. But thanks to intimidationand corruption that’s the story we got.
The original autopsy report stated death from drug use.
Yup and the guy had enough narcotics in him to kill 7 men. He was going to die regardless
You’re propagating a false narrative. The knee wasn’t on the neck. Watch the videos and see where it actually was. Chavin should never have been convicted, nor should the other officers.
Chauvin.
The one thing Chauvin did wrong was to keep his knee on Floyd’s back – and prevent EMT’s from treating Floyd – for several minutes after Floyd ceased resisting, or even breathing. It’s likely that Floyd was going to die anyway in spite of all possible treatment, but that isn’t proven because Chauvin and the other cops prevented him from getting timely treatment.
I could see a conviction for manslaughter because of this, but not murder. They weren’t intentionally killing him, but it sure looks like reckless indifference.
He didn’t prevent EMT’s from treating Floyd. On the contrary, as soon as they showed up he got up and let them work on him. He was waiting for them, and expecting them at any second, but they took their sweet time because they were afraid the mob would hurt them.
Brooks was running away — with the taser. That made him an armed and dangerous felon, to whom the Fleeing Felon rule still applies.
“The plaintiffs’ unjust enrichment claim “alleged that Defendants appropriated the name ‘Black Wall Street,’ a moniker for the [destroyed] Greenwood neighborhood” in tourism materials “without returning any of those benefits to members of the community” and thus unjustly enriching themselves.”
I am suffering terminal “cultural appropriation ” fatigue.
Ricky Gervais aptly remarks that huge numbers of blacks use the N word 20 times a minute, put it in rap songs and make big money with it. Well, white people deserve our cut of that. We INVENTED that word.
The Statute of Limitations has become a legal joke in the vast body of grievance law….and it needs to be brought back into the law. Rape claims by an adult 17,20…25 years after the supposed event create a case impossible to refute. The claimants carefully target the wealthy or politically important but opposing party, prepare a calendar of convergence by public record….and that is all that is needed now in blue courts.
“…officials failed to take actions to calm or contain the situation once violence erupted and, in some cases, became participants in the subsequent violence…”
Sounds like today’s Dems during the BLM/Antifa riots – took no actions, raised bail for those arrested, refused to charge many of those arrested (that is, when the police hadn’t been stood down), and someone delivered bricks to areas in which riots appear to have been planned (nobody leaves bricks in places where a riot isn’t expected).
This is judicial cowardice and a waste of resources. The issue should have been immediately rejected as frivolous with no analysis provided.
I have a friend who is a PhD — historian. He researched the “Tulsa Race Massacre” extensively. He concluded that there was no massacre.
You know, there are enough rich black people to go and create their own “Wall Street,” but they never go about doing it. I wonder why that is. Maybe, just maybe, they don’t do it because they don’t trust black people with their money themselves.
Doesn’t Oklahoma have a statute of limitations for torts as well as crimes? Did the plaintiffs have some argument for overriding it? Because without that, the case should not only have been dismissed at the first hearing, but the plaintiffs or their lawyers fined for filing a frivolous lawsuit.
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