October 1999

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October 11, 1999

Contact: Office of Communications
Ann Overton (561) 682-6197

U.S. SUPREME COURT RULES SFWMD DID NOT DISCRIMINATE AGAINST MICCOSUKEE TRIBE IN 1995 FLOODING SUIT
By refusing to hear an appeal in a 1995 suit by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida alleging intentional flooding of tribal lands following Tropical Storm Gordon in 1994, the U.S. Supreme Court last week upheld two earlier court rulings in favor of the South Florida Water Management District and the federal government.  The Miccosukee suit claimed the District and federal government discriminated against the tribe by failing to provide adequate flood control, thus violating the tribe members' rights to enjoy their tribal lands and freely practice their religion. During the fall of 1994, Water Conservation Area 3A in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, where the tribe lives in three different areas, experienced its highest water levels since 1947.  In November 1994, Tropical Storm Gordon exacerbated already wet conditions throughout South Florida, which affected tribal lands as well as many other parts of the region. The District, to the extent allowed by law, worked to relieve flooding as much as possible on tribal lands without increasing the impact of high water in other areas.  In 1997, U.S. District Judge Edward Davis ruled in Miami that the tribe was not entitled any greater flood protection than anyone else in South Florida and that the District and federal government had not discriminated against the tribe by refusing to open flood-control structures to move excess water south from WCA-3A into the park to alleviate that flooding. The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeal upheld Davis' decision in 1998, and the Supreme Court affirmed the appellate court's ruling.   Read more...
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Credit:
Everglades photograph courtesy Philip Greenspun

 

Revised:  05/25/03