Pyke v. Cuomo — Dismissal of Claims against State re: Mohawk Unrest

Here is the short, per curiam opinion in Pyke v. Cuomo — Pyke v Cuomo

An excerpt:

This case arises from widespread, violent unrest on a Mohawk Indian reservation in New York in the late 1980s and early 1990s. At issue is the response of certain New York officials to that crisis. Plaintiffs, as representatives of a class, argue that Defendants-all of whom are government officials with some responsibility for the policing of Indian lands-violated Plaintiffs’ rights under the Equal Protection Clause through their inadequate and at times harmful response to the unrest on the reservation. Plaintiffs allege that Defendants’ actions contributed to millions of dollars in property damage and the deaths of two young Mohawks.

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The violence on the Mohawk reservation was an indisputable tragedy. But Plaintiffs have not shown that Defendants’ attempts to avert it, however unsuccessful they might have been, were a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. Accordingly, we AFFIRM the judgment of the District Court.