Judge greenlights tribe’s suit against state

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) – A federal judge has given the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribe a greenlight to continue its civil rights lawsuit brought against New Jersey’s attorney general’s office.

NJ.com reports a federal judge on Thursday denied the state’s attempt to have the suit dismissed, which allows the 3,000-member tribe to take the suit to trial. The Lenni-Lenape claim the state was motivated by “racial prejudice and political gamesmanship” in its decision to not officially recognize the tribe.

Tribe members live throughout the Northeast, but the group is headquartered in Cumberland County.

The Lenni-Lenape say the state’s failure to recognize the tribe has not only hurt the group financially but has resulted in a loss of “tribal identity and prestige.

A state spokesman said it was reviewing the ruling.

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Information from: NJ.com, http://www.nj.com