FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A judge has thrown out a federal lawsuit by a committee of tribal members trying to save the University of North Dakota’s Fighting Sioux nickname.
The suit was filed against the NCAA by members of the Spirit Lake and Standing Rock Sioux tribes. It asked for at least $10 million and a reversal of the NCAA policy banning the use of American Indian imagery.
The NCAA filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, saying the tribes lacked standing to bring the lawsuit and their claims were not supported by facts.
U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson ruled late Tuesday in favor of the NCAA.
Erickson says, “The plain fact is that the committee and the other plaintiffs are not participants in the market alleged to be restrained by the NCAA.”
