OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Supreme Court has rejected a request to reconsider its ruling to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the last two known living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
Without comment, seven members of the court on Tuesday turned away the request by 110-year-old Viola Fletcher and 109-year-old Lessie Benningfield Randle to rehear its June ruling that upheld a decision by a district court judge in Tulsato dismiss the case.
Justice James Edmondson would have reheard the case and Justice Richard Darby did not vote.
Fletcher and Randle survived the massacre that is considered one of the worst single acts of violenceagainst Black people in U.S. history.
Why not damages?
You don’t even get to damage because there isn’t a cause of action. The underlying lawsuit was brought under a public nuisance statute that doesn’t apply. This isn’t a matter for the courts, at least until the legislature creates a legal theory.