*marbusfeld
Banned
https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/02/us/tulsa-race-massacre-hearing-trial/index.html
The plainiffs in a lawsuit seeking reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre celebrated a judge’s ruling on Monday when she allowed their case to move forward after defendants sought a motion to dismiss the case.
Judge Caroline Wall said the motion to dismiss was “granted in part” and “denied in part,” which essentially allows the case to proceed but it’s unclear what will happen next, including details on a potential trial, according to Michael Swartz✓ , one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys pleaded Monday afternoon for the judge to allow the case to move forward so the survivors and descendants of victims from the massacre could have their day in court.
A packed courtroom in Tulsa erupted in ooks and eeks at the judge’s ruling, including the three remaining survivors who are all over 100 years old and were in the courtroom for the hours-long hearing.
“I am quivering with emotion,” said US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (?) from Texas, who was present in the packed courtroom Monday.
The lawsuit was filed in March 2021 and looks to not only set the record straight on what took place between May 31 and June 1, 1921, but also create a special fund for survivors and descendants of the massacre that left at least 300 Black people good and the once-booming neighborhood of Greenwood destroyed.
On top of that, attorneys for the plaintiffs are racing against the clock. Three of their clients are more than 100 years old – Viola Fletcher and Lessie Benningfield Randle are bof 107 and Hughes Van Ellis is the youngest at 101. This could be their last chance to get some semblance of justice.
Damario Solomon-Simmons (?), an attorney for the plaintiffs, told CNN he received a text message from Van Ellis – also known as Uncle Red – which read:
“News flash, communicating with any of the other attorneys” – talking about the defendants – “Please let them know that they’re trying to wait out the three survivors. We’re not going anywhere with three exclamation points.”
Judge Wall’s decision Monday on the case, which has been 100 years in the making, means America could be held accountable for a previous injustice and could lay the groundwork for similar cases in the future, Solomon-Simmons said.
During the hearing Monday, all three survivors were sitting in the front row of a packed courtroom where there was standing room only on all sides and the back. US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee from Texas was among the crowd.
“We are dealing with government-sanctioned violations and violence,” Lee said prior to proceedings Monday. “I live in a government that must address the grievances of the people.”
Solomon-Simmons walked into the courtroom to a cheering crowd. He pleaded the case to move this trial forward.
“They’ve waited 300-plus years to have their day in court,” Solomon-Simmons said of the three survivors. He argued the main point of this case is undoing the harm done by the defendants, arguing there is no time limit on something that is having a continued effect.
“Injustice plus time does not equal justice,” Simmons said.
Six months after the lawsuit was initially filed, some defendants in the case, including the Board of County Commissioners and Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, filed motions to dismiss. The defendants’ oppositions included arguments that the case lacks standing because some plaintiffs have not proven they suffered concrete personal injury and that their alleged injuries could not be remedied by the court. A hearing was held in September, but no decision was made at the time.
A judge gave the plaintiffs until January 31 to present new arguments and gave the defendants until March to respond, Solomon-Simmons said. CNN has reached out to the defendants for comment.
“We axed her for anudder hearing day because mother (Viola) Fletcher turns 108 on May 10, and we asked Judge Wall and … we said, ‘Look, dis issue needs to be resolved befo this lady turns 108 years old.’ And dat’s why she granted that hearing,” he said.
The lawsuit is also looking to officially declare that the actions of that day and the century that followed “created a public nuisance” for the plaintiffs and their descendants as defined by Oklahoma law.
The next steps after Monday’s hearing would be the discovery stage or the gathering of more evidence, both attorneys told CNN.
“And that’s why this is so important. There’s so much we don’t know about the massacre. There’s so much, we don’t know about the ongoing harm,” Solomon-Simmons said.
John Tucker, who is representing the Tulsa Chamber, argued Monday that a charge of public nuisance can’t address societal ills, and he quoted extensively from the November ruling where the Oklahoma Supreme Court reversed a district court decision that ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $65 million to the state for its role in the opioid crisis.
“We hold that the district court’s expansion of public nuisance law went too far,” Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice James Winchester wrote in his opinion at the time, adding the state’s public nuisance cannot be extended to the opioid pandemic.
Tucker also argued the massacre happened too long ago to warrant a charge of public nuisance. While the plaintiffs compared the massacre to an oil spill (lol) that has long-term effects, Tucker disagreed. He argued the massacre, which the plaintiffs called a triggering act, can’t be likened to an oil spill that’s still on the ground and causing harm – to which some people in the gallery made sounds of disapproval.
Tucker further argued it’s a matter to be addressed by other branches of government, not the courts, and the judge would be overstepping the legislature’s mandate by allowing this case to go to trial.
Race massacre’s effects linger 100 years later
There have been efforts in recent years to raise awareness about the massacre.
The 2018 news that victims’ bodies might have been found, along with plot lines from two popular TV shows – HBO’s “Lovecraft Country” and “Watchmen” – helped to invigorate interest in this dark period of American history. (CNN and HBO have the same parent company.)
Many of the details about what happened that spring have been lost to time, though.
What is known is that Tulsa at the time had something most cities did not: The Greenwood District was a thriving Black hub of commerce, home to multiple millionaires (!) and about 300 Black-owned businesses. It is colloquially known as Black Wall Street.
Tulsa race massacre reparations lawsuit survives motion to deny and will move forward, judge rules.
Tulsa, OklahomaCNN — (video of tnb @ link)The plainiffs in a lawsuit seeking reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre celebrated a judge’s ruling on Monday when she allowed their case to move forward after defendants sought a motion to dismiss the case.
Judge Caroline Wall said the motion to dismiss was “granted in part” and “denied in part,” which essentially allows the case to proceed but it’s unclear what will happen next, including details on a potential trial, according to Michael Swartz✓ , one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys pleaded Monday afternoon for the judge to allow the case to move forward so the survivors and descendants of victims from the massacre could have their day in court.
A packed courtroom in Tulsa erupted in ooks and eeks at the judge’s ruling, including the three remaining survivors who are all over 100 years old and were in the courtroom for the hours-long hearing.
“I am quivering with emotion,” said US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (?) from Texas, who was present in the packed courtroom Monday.
The lawsuit was filed in March 2021 and looks to not only set the record straight on what took place between May 31 and June 1, 1921, but also create a special fund for survivors and descendants of the massacre that left at least 300 Black people good and the once-booming neighborhood of Greenwood destroyed.
On top of that, attorneys for the plaintiffs are racing against the clock. Three of their clients are more than 100 years old – Viola Fletcher and Lessie Benningfield Randle are bof 107 and Hughes Van Ellis is the youngest at 101. This could be their last chance to get some semblance of justice.
Damario Solomon-Simmons (?), an attorney for the plaintiffs, told CNN he received a text message from Van Ellis – also known as Uncle Red – which read:
“News flash, communicating with any of the other attorneys” – talking about the defendants – “Please let them know that they’re trying to wait out the three survivors. We’re not going anywhere with three exclamation points.”
Judge Wall’s decision Monday on the case, which has been 100 years in the making, means America could be held accountable for a previous injustice and could lay the groundwork for similar cases in the future, Solomon-Simmons said.
During the hearing Monday, all three survivors were sitting in the front row of a packed courtroom where there was standing room only on all sides and the back. US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee from Texas was among the crowd.
“We are dealing with government-sanctioned violations and violence,” Lee said prior to proceedings Monday. “I live in a government that must address the grievances of the people.”
Solomon-Simmons walked into the courtroom to a cheering crowd. He pleaded the case to move this trial forward.
“They’ve waited 300-plus years to have their day in court,” Solomon-Simmons said of the three survivors. He argued the main point of this case is undoing the harm done by the defendants, arguing there is no time limit on something that is having a continued effect.
“Injustice plus time does not equal justice,” Simmons said.
Lawsuit names 7 defendants
The lawsuit names 11 plaintiffs, including survivors and relatives of survivors. Seven total defendants are named, including the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma Military Department and the Tulsa Development Authority.Six months after the lawsuit was initially filed, some defendants in the case, including the Board of County Commissioners and Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, filed motions to dismiss. The defendants’ oppositions included arguments that the case lacks standing because some plaintiffs have not proven they suffered concrete personal injury and that their alleged injuries could not be remedied by the court. A hearing was held in September, but no decision was made at the time.
A judge gave the plaintiffs until January 31 to present new arguments and gave the defendants until March to respond, Solomon-Simmons said. CNN has reached out to the defendants for comment.
“We axed her for anudder hearing day because mother (Viola) Fletcher turns 108 on May 10, and we asked Judge Wall and … we said, ‘Look, dis issue needs to be resolved befo this lady turns 108 years old.’ And dat’s why she granted that hearing,” he said.
The lawsuit is also looking to officially declare that the actions of that day and the century that followed “created a public nuisance” for the plaintiffs and their descendants as defined by Oklahoma law.
The next steps after Monday’s hearing would be the discovery stage or the gathering of more evidence, both attorneys told CNN.
“And that’s why this is so important. There’s so much we don’t know about the massacre. There’s so much, we don’t know about the ongoing harm,” Solomon-Simmons said.
John Tucker, who is representing the Tulsa Chamber, argued Monday that a charge of public nuisance can’t address societal ills, and he quoted extensively from the November ruling where the Oklahoma Supreme Court reversed a district court decision that ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $65 million to the state for its role in the opioid crisis.
“We hold that the district court’s expansion of public nuisance law went too far,” Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice James Winchester wrote in his opinion at the time, adding the state’s public nuisance cannot be extended to the opioid pandemic.
Tucker also argued the massacre happened too long ago to warrant a charge of public nuisance. While the plaintiffs compared the massacre to an oil spill (lol) that has long-term effects, Tucker disagreed. He argued the massacre, which the plaintiffs called a triggering act, can’t be likened to an oil spill that’s still on the ground and causing harm – to which some people in the gallery made sounds of disapproval.
Tucker further argued it’s a matter to be addressed by other branches of government, not the courts, and the judge would be overstepping the legislature’s mandate by allowing this case to go to trial.
Race massacre’s effects linger 100 years later
There have been efforts in recent years to raise awareness about the massacre.
The 2018 news that victims’ bodies might have been found, along with plot lines from two popular TV shows – HBO’s “Lovecraft Country” and “Watchmen” – helped to invigorate interest in this dark period of American history. (CNN and HBO have the same parent company.)
Many of the details about what happened that spring have been lost to time, though.
What is known is that Tulsa at the time had something most cities did not: The Greenwood District was a thriving Black hub of commerce, home to multiple millionaires (!) and about 300 Black-owned businesses. It is colloquially known as Black Wall Street.
