Oklahoma court dismisses bid for Tulsa Race Massacre reparations

The plaintiffs had brought their case under Oklahoma’s public nuisance law, arguing that the violence and destruction wrought on the “Black Wall Street” area more than a century ago continues to resonate today.

The Tulsa County sheriff, county commissioners and the Oklahoma Military Department were named as defendants in the suit.

In its Wednesday ruling, the state’s top court sided with Tulsa officials in arguing that the plaintiffs’ grievances did not entitle them to compensation.

“With respect to their public nuisance claim, though Plaintiffs’ grievances are legitimate, they do not fall within the scope of our State’s public nuisance statute,” the court wrote.

In doing so, the nine-judge bench affirmed a lower court judge’s identical ruling last July.

The judge concluded that “simply being connected to a historical event does not provide a person with unlimited rights to seek compensation”.