Supreme Court Declines to Hear Native American Religious Freedom Appeal

The Supreme Court this week declined to hear arguments in a case involving a Native American group's attempt to stop the destruction of a centuries-old religious ritual site.

The high court refused to reconsider an appeal by Apache Stronghold, a coalition of Native Americans, seeking to prevent the federal government from transferring Oak Flat, a sacred site in Arizona's Tonto National Forest, to a mining company.

The land, 60 miles east of Phoenix and revered by the Western Apache for centuries, is slated for destruction as part of a massive copper mining project.

The unsigned order, issued Monday, denied Apache Stronghold's petition for rehearing without explanation. Justice Neil Gorsuch said he would have granted the appeal, while Justice Samuel Alito did not participate in the decision, according to CNN and the Catholic News Agency.

The decision effectively ends the group's immediate bid to halt the transfer to Resolution Copper, a joint venture of global mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP.

"Just imagine if the government sought to demolish a historic cathedral on so questionable a chain of legal reasoning," Gorsuch wrote in an earlier dissent from the court's May refusal to hear the case. "Faced with the government's plan to destroy an ancient site of tribal worship, we owe the Apaches no less."

Oak Flat, known in Apache as "the place where the Emory oak grows," has been a focal point for religious ceremonies and a key part of Apache spiritual life for generations, the Arizona Republic reported.

Congress approved the land exchange in 2014, with then-President Donald Trump initiating the transfer in his final days in office.

The Resolution Copper project would use block-cave mining, a method that will collapse the underground ore body, leaving a crater nearly two miles wide and 1,000 feet deep.

Apache Stronghold argued that the land transfer violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which bars the government from burdening religious exercise without a compelling reason.

Lower courts, including the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, rejected that claim, ruling the project does not coerce or discriminate based on religion.

In a statement following the Supreme Court's latest denial, Apache Stronghold said the decision was "deeply disappointing" but vowed to continue fighting in lower courts.

"Oak Flat deserves the same respect and protection this country has long given to other places of worship," the group said.

Despite this setback, the 9th Circuit has temporarily halted the land transfer pending environmental review.

Additional lawsuits, including one brought by Apache women invoking recent Supreme Court rulings on religious freedom, remain active, ensuring that the long battle over Oak Flat is far from over.

• Busy Supreme Court Term to Weigh Trump Agenda, Woke Policies
• When Belief Becomes a Crime, Every Faith Is at Risk