July 09, 2024
A bipartisan group of Arizona federal lawmakers has introduced legislation that, if approved, would authorize the country's largest Native American water rights settlement and resolve claims by the Navajo Nation and the San Juan Southern Paiute and Hopi tribes.
December 21, 2023
From a Supreme Court decision reshaping water rights in the United States to ongoing fights over so-called forever chemical contamination, lawsuits concerning the environment rumbled through the courts in 2023. Here, we look at the lawsuits that shaped the year.
June 22, 2023
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday held that the federal government is not responsible for helping the Navajo Nation secure water rights, saying that an 1868 treaty between the tribe and government contains no language imposing such a duty.
March 20, 2023
Several Supreme Court justices on Monday seemed baffled that 70 years ago the federal government asserted a claim on behalf of the Navajo Nation in a water allocation dispute, but now says the U.S. Interior Department has no obligation to help the tribe determine how much water it needs for agricultural purposes.
March 17, 2023
The U.S. Supreme Court kicks off its penultimate argument session of the term this week, dedicating three days to a variety of civil cases being closely monitored by plaintiffs lawyers, corporate defense attorneys and the intellectual property world. Here, Law360 breaks down a deep conflict over automatic arbitration stays, as well as an offbeat IP fight over a poop-themed dog toy coming before the justices this week.
February 08, 2023
The Navajo Nation on Wednesday secured the support of 50 other Indigenous tribes in its efforts to tap the Colorado River, with an influential tribal advocacy group telling the U.S. Supreme Court that federal authorities owe the Navajos at least a summary of their water rights.
February 02, 2023
The Navajo Nation is casting its attempt to draw water from the drought-stricken Colorado River as a question of human rights, telling the U.S. Supreme Court that its citizens risk losing their livelihoods, or even their homeland, if federal officials keep withholding such resources.
January 03, 2023
A coalition of Western water users told the U.S. Supreme Court that permitting the Navajo Nation to sue for rights to the Colorado River would have immediate consequences for industries and communities that rely on the drought-stricken river and could have profound implications for federal procedures to parcel Western water resources.
January 02, 2023
All eyes are on the U.S. Supreme Court as it weighs a challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act in a case that Indigenous-rights advocates say could threaten tribal sovereignty in many other areas, depending on the extent of the final ruling.
December 20, 2022
The federal government says it cannot be required to provide the Navajo Nation with water from the Colorado River, arguing that neither a 114-year-old U.S. Supreme Court decision nor a 19th-century treaty make the U.S. responsible for securing such resources for the Southwestern tribe.