On Friday, a federal appeals court questioned whether it had the power to overturn a bill in Congress that granted Rio Tinto Co., Ltd. copper land in Arizona, which was challenged by Native Americans.
"it would be great if Congress or anyone else could get more meaning out of this," said U.S. Circuit Judge Martha Besson (Marsha Berzon), because the court seemed likely to support the U.S. government's plan to hand over Arizona land to Rio Tinto.
Apache Stronghold, a group of Native Americans and environmentalists, asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to overturn a lower court ruling that allowed the government to hand over land to Rio Tinto.
The 49-minute hearing is the latest development in a long-running conflict between members of the Apache tribe in San Carlos, Arizona, who believe the land is home to gods, while Rio Tinto and partner BHP Billiton (BHP Group Plc) have spent more than $1 billion on the project, but have not yet produced any copper.
Demand for copper, which is used to make (EV) electric cars and other electronic devices, has been growing.
A lawyer at Fort Apache said they thought the court would rule in their favor, but if they lost, they would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton declined to comment.
Judges questioned whether they had the right to reverse the 2014 decision of former President Barack Obama and Congress, which launched a complex process of handing over more than 40 billion pounds of copper to Rio Tinto in exchange for land owned by Rio Tinto nearby.
Three judges of the Court of Appeal are expected to make a decision in the near future. Meanwhile, Congress is debating a bill that would repeal legislation approving land transfers in 2014.
Previous court rulings allowed the government to give away the land it owned, even if some groups considered it sacred. But the courts often find that the government cannot force individuals to do things contrary to their religious beliefs.
The Apache family has said that handing over the land to Rio Tinto would actually force them to go against their religious beliefs because they would not be able to worship at the site.
Mary Murgia (Mary Murgia), an American circuit judge who is one of the three judges, questioned this argument.
But Luke Goodrich, a lawyer for Apache Stronghold, said that if the Rio Tinto mine was built, their religious activities there would come to an end.
Besson said she was sensitive to historical abuse by Native Americans, but felt bound by the law to limit their deliberations to the narrow issue under consideration, that is, whether the government could use its own land to do what it wanted to do.
Joan Pepping (Joan Pepin), a lawyer at the U.S. Department of Justice, told the judge that Congress's move to give up land should overturn any previous agreement that Washington might have reached with the Apache.
She said that when the regulation conflicts with the convention, the regulation will repeal it.
Us Circuit Judge Carlos Bea asked whether mediation could resolve the conflict. Lawyers on both sides say this is unlikely.
