A federal judge has ruled it was not racist for state officials to suspend a land sale around eastern Utah’s Tabby Mountain — even though it expressly prevented the Ute Indian Tribe from buying back some of its ancestral homelands.
U.S. District Judge David Barlow has thrown out the tribe’s discrimination claims. But, in a major move, he will allow some civil rights arguments to move forward against Utah officials.
Barlow rules that the defendants did not aim, in particular, to hurt the Ute Tribe by pulling the sale, even if harm still happened incidentally. The state trust lands agency, he added, did not end up selling the land to any bidders, including another state agency. The judge also pointed to the agency’s stated intention: That pausing the sale was to get a better appraisal for the property so it would fetch a fair price.
The administration was responsible for listing the land for sale and then ultimately pulling it after the tribe had the initial highest bid. But Barlow rules that because UTLA is an arm of the state, it has immunity from being sued in this case. With that and the dropped state claims, UTLA is no longer a named party to the suit.
The tribe had the initial highest bid at $47 million. UTLA then allowed DNR to counter with a higher offer, but the department wasn’t able to actually secure the funds. Instead of taking the tribe’s offer, the lands administration pulled the parcel off the market and suspended the sale.that behind the scenes the trust administration had been pressured by state lawmakers to keep the sale of Tabby Mountain off the radar of other buyers, to not drive the price up.
With UTLA and Cox dismissed, only three defendants now remain named in the case. Those are: current UTLA Director Michelle McConkie, then-UTLA Director David Ure and former DNR director Mike Styler.
Utah Ute Tribe Tabby Mountain SITLA Utah Trust Lands Racism Ute Tribe Racism Judge Ruling Tabby Mountain Utah Tabby Mountain Case Ute Tribe Tabby Mountain
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