Gorsuch, Thomas dissent as Supreme Court declines to take up Apache challenge to copper mine

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: The Hill

COURT BATTLES
Gorsuch, Thomas dissent as Supreme Court declines to take up Apache challenge to copper mine

BY RACHEL FRAZIN 05/27/25 11:04 AM ET

The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to take up a challenge to a land swap enabling mining at a sacred Indigenous site, garnering pushback from conservative justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas.

A 2014 law enabled a land transfer between mining company Resolution Copper and the federal government, allowing the miner to take control of a site called Oak Flat in Arizona, which is sacred to the Western Apache. ... A group called Apache Stronghold, which says it represents Apaches, other Native peoples, and non-Native allies, appealed the case to the Supreme Court, asking it to reverse a 9th Circuit decision on religious freedom grounds.

The high court declined to take up the case Tuesday without explaining its decision. However, Gorsuch issued a dissent, joined by Thomas.

"For centuries, Western Apaches have worshipped at Ch'chil Biłdagoteel, or Oak Flat. They consider the site a sacred and 'direct corridor to the Creator,'" Gorsuch wrote. " Now, the government and a mining conglomerate want to turn Oak Flat into a massive hole in the ground."

{snip}

Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5319722-gorsuch-thomas-dissent-apache-copper-mine/amp/

---

https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/052725zor_p8k0.pdf

I expect Gorsuch and Thomas will receive great praise at DU for their dissent.