Lessie Benningfield Randle. Img source: AP News
June 13, 2024 Story by: Editor
Oklahoma – In a significant setback for the survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Oklahoma Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the last known survivors of this devastating event. This ruling represents a major blow in the quest for justice for one of the most brutal acts of mass violence against Black people in modern American history.
On Wednesday, the state Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, upheld a lower court’s ruling that the public nuisance claim brought by the plaintiffs, while valid, does not fit within the parameters of Oklahoma’s public nuisance statute. Additionally, the court found that the allegations did not sufficiently support claims for unjust enrichment or unauthorized use of name and likeness.
Hughes Van Ellis, Viola Fletcher, and Lessie Benningfield Randle, the plaintiffs, filed the lawsuit in 2020 under Oklahoma’s public nuisance law. They sought reparations for the destruction of Greenwood, a prosperous Black neighborhood, and the killing of approximately 300 Black residents by a white mob in 1921. The plaintiffs, who were children at the time of the massacre, aimed to secure punitive damages, a compensation fund, and a scholarship program for the descendants of Greenwood residents.
Van Ellis passed away last year at 102. Fletcher is now 110, and Randle is 109.
The lawsuit named the city of Tulsa, Tulsa’s board of county commissioners, and the Oklahoma Military Department as defendants. In July, an Oklahoma district court judge dismissed the suit, agreeing with the city’s argument that “simply being connected to a historical event does not provide a person with unlimited rights to seek compensation.” Source: MSNBC
Following this dismissal, the plaintiffs appealed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court in August. Their attorney, Damario Solomon-Simmons, emphasized in an earlier filing that a ruling from the state’s highest court represented the final chance for the survivors to achieve justice.
