U.S. Supreme Courts rules on Leisnoi case
The Kodiak Daily Mirror and writer Bradley Zint write coverage on this landmark case that after 33 years went to the highest court in the land.
The 33-year-old court battle between Kodiak rancher Omar Stratman and Leisnoi, Inc. came to an end yesterday after the U.S. Supreme Court denied Stratman’s petition for certiorari.
The move affirms the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ October 2008 decision in favor of Leisnoi, a village corporation organized under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA).
Stratman’s writ of certiorari was filed Jan. 5, 2009.
The Stratman lawsuit claimed Leisnoi, otherwise known as the “Native Village of Woody Island,” was created in an attempt to get more money and land than was legally allowed under ANCSA ruling.
Stratman’s case claimed the only structures present on Woody Island in 1970, the date of eligibility under ANCSA, were a federal housing complex for Federal Aviation Administration employees and Camp Woody, a summer camp.
Tags: Leisnoi
