Reparations precedent.
And the money isn't going to the litigants as much as it is going to other interests.
dittos
Heck no! The BIA has stolen from the Indians forever.
(Dang—You beat me on the whole reparations thing.)
I think Clinton set that precedent paying the Japanese for the relocation camps during WWII, as well as some Pacific Islanders (another group is in my recollection too).
Hardly the same thing. As a for instance, the Civilized Tribes that were forcibly removed by Jackson from their lands along the Mississippi and eastward made legally binding treaties entitling them to purchase and lease payments as well as mineral and access royalties. The government, being what it is, lost all track and no doubt embezzled billions. Whether the people being screwed have dark skins or white (and many of the ‘Indian’ land owners were in fact, of mixed race and were well to do land owners, makes no difference. We aren’t talking reparations for ‘wrongs’ committed, we are talking about honoring contracts. The US government couldn’t begin to make reparations for the wrongs committed against most tribes, even those committed in the last century, forget about the ‘ancient’ past.
Not in this case, the federal government has been playing fast and lose with this for years.