Posted on 02/09/2012 5:19:31 PM PST by ColdOne
LINCOLN, Neb. – An American Indian tribe sued some of the world's largest beer makers Thursday, claiming they knowingly contributed to devastating alcohol-related problems on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
The Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota said it is demanding $500 million in damages for the cost of health care, social services and child rehabilitation caused by chronic alcoholism on the reservation, which encompasses some of the nation's most impoverished counties.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court of Nebraska also targets four beer stores in Whiteclay, a Nebraska town near the reservation's border that, despite having only about a dozen residents, sold nearly 5 million cans of beer in 2010.
Tribal leaders and activists blame the Whiteclay businesses for chronic alcohol abuse and bootlegging on the Pine Ridge reservation, where all alcohol is banned. They say most of the stores' customers come from the reservation, which spans southwest South Dakota and dips into Nebraska.
"You cannot sell 4.9 million 12-ounce cans of beer and wash your hands like Pontius Pilate, and say we've got nothing to do with it being smuggled," said Tom White, the tribe's Omaha-based attorney.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
One down.
If they succeed, it opens the door for millions more and another industry is strangled.
I am going to sue Dr. Pepper, Frito-Lay, Oscar Meyer and Mrs Baird Bakeries for making me fat!
I wanna sue the government for making me poor.
Hmmmm, I wonder if one could sue the Indian tribes and their casinos for causing people to lose lots of money, become addicted to gambling, and in some cases ruin marriages.
Let’s HOPE some activist judge doesn’t rule in favor of the indians. How absurd this suit is....I go to the casinos in Oklahoma which are run by indians and they sell alcohol and smokes.
Ha!!
This is the Oglala Sioux finally pushing back against the failed Progressive god worshipped by Teddy Roosevelt and his running dog lackeys.
White Clay used to be the BUFFER ZONE in Nebraska that protected the more populated area in South Dakota from the liquor vendors.
Roosevelt gave away their reservation land to illegal immigrants and opened the door to widespread destruction of tribe members.
These folks really can't deal with alcohol anymore than Roosevelt could handle concepts of national sovereignty, private property, limited government or moderate tax laws.
I noted earlier that when you don't have the enzymes to metabolize liquor you can drink a couple of six packs and be drunk for weeks, and that's the problem here. It's like almost everybody around there is a binge drinker ~ no cocktail parties for these guys. That's not what's happening.
You sure as hell can. If the Injuns don't like the firewater heading into there territory, maybe they should get out there and put check points going in to the reservation. This is the most outrageous lawsuit.
I was a drunk and managed to quit.
I’m going to sue the company that makes Fiskars. I have this bad habit of running with scissors, and I just can’t seem to cut it out...
Is it too hard to not drink? Blame the beer companies is as about as stupid as I have ever heard. Personal responsibility seems to come to mind. How about suing the car companies because cars can kill. That should be worth at least a few billion.
And what would have happened if this liquor/beer store refused to sell alcohol to any Indian who requested it?
Yes it does, just makes me wonder exactly where they got the idea?
Not many choices, so "if they succeed" all that means is that the federal courts are open to handle federal suits.
HISTORY NOTE: The Pine Ridge Reservation extends all over the place. There are a couple of ancient sacred sites that show up as little outliers South in Nebraska further East. Those are graveyards. Just about anybody ~ white, black, Indian, whatever ~ who dies in the area ends up there. Folks doing geneology may be surprised to find a non-Indian ancestor on the list of burials.
My post earlier....
While I'm not sure about your six-pack and drunk for weeks idea....
But I know for a fact...alcohol effects American Indians differently.
The more the money,the more consumption of fire-water.
Ah, now you have made me think a little deeper...that kind of defense didn’t work out so well for the tobacco companies. At first I thought this was absolutely ridiculous and would be tossed. Now I’m not so sure.
The federales should simply return the land to the Indians, pay off the present owners, and pull outta there.
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