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Fitzgerald Bill Aids Families in Indian Lawsuit

The Miami Indian tribe, which once owned land in eastern Illinois but currently resides in Oklahoma, has filed a lawsuit seeking to recover 2.6 million acres spanning 15 east-central Illinois counties. Unless the dispute is resolved quickly, Fitzgerald said, the landowners targeted in the lawsuit -- one family in each of the 15 counties -- could face a lengthy and expensive court battle to defend their homes, towns, and businesses.

"Many of the families named in the lawsuit have lived in east-central Illinois, farmed the land, and built family businesses there for generations," Fitzgerald said. "They bought their land in good faith, and they should not have to endure a costly court fight to keep their homes."

Fitzgerald explained that, although numerous state laws exist to protect landowners against the tribe's claims, current federal law blocks the families from using the state laws to defend their rights to the land. The Miami filed a legal claim, only recently, to recover the land that was sold to others more than 150 years ago. Nevertheless, the statute of limitations and other laws blocking frivolous prosecution of outdated and burdensome claims, for example, do not apply, according to recent court decisions. The legislation Fitzgerald proposed Monday, if approved, would grant the Illinois families the flexibility to use the same defenses against the tribe's lawsuit that they would be able to use against any other party.

Fitzgerald decided to propose the measure after discussing the situation with concerned citizens during a string of east-central Illinois town meetings earlier this month. Fitzgerald spoke personally with one of the defendants and her husband at a July 7 town meeting in Edgar County.

"Citizens are granted certain legal protections when they are sued by a business associate, a relative, the government, or practically anyone else. Why shouldn't these protections apply when a family is sued by a tribe?" Fitzgerald asked.

"The families have no role in what is essentially a dispute between the Miami and the government. Nevertheless, some of the families could be forced to sell assets or mortgage their homes to pay legal fees, just because federal law denies them adequate protection in this case," Fitzgerald continued. "This bill does not limit the rights of tribes or anyone else to seek justice in U.S. courts. It simply forces them to play by the same rules and meet the same legal standards as everyone else."

Fitzgerald said it is not right for the Miami to use innocent families to gain leverage in its struggle to win a gambling license from the state, and called on tribe leaders to drop the lawsuit and pursue a more reasonable means of negotiation with state lawmakers. According to recent news reports, the Miami have admitted that they are using the land-claim suit to pressure Illinois officials to grant the tribe a license to build a casino in east- central Illinois.

"Illinois families should not be bargaining chips in a political poker game with the state of Illinois," said Fitzgerald.

The Senator said a long, drawn out legal battle between the Miami tribe and the Illinois families could depress property values and stifle economic growth in the east-central region of the state. Because ownership of the land is in dispute, the families may not be able to obtain title insurance and, as a result, may have difficulty selling their property if they choose to do so.

"These families and all residents of the 15 counties in east-central Illinois are very frightened of losing their homes. We need to act soon," he concluded.

The Miami suit seeks to recover land in Champaign, Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Effingham, Ford, Iroquois, Jasper, Livingston, Moultrie, Shelby, and Vermillion Counties.

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