FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
NON-FEDERAL MOMENT
February 3, 2025
Media Contacts:
COLT J. Garret Renville, (605) 268-0589, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
COLT Executive Director OJ Semans, (605) 828-1422, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
NIWRC Communications, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Historic Trial in L.B. v. United States Set to Begin Tomorrow in Billings
BILLINGS, Mont. — On February 4, 2025, the trial will begin at the United States Courthouse in Billings in L.B. v. United States, a case concerning the right of a Native woman victim to receive damages from the United States federal government to compensate for her pain and suffering caused by a federal law officer who raped her in her own home. The case returned to the District Court after L.B. won her challenge this past summer in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
This past summer, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower court’s decision to grant summary judgment in the federal government’s favor and dismiss L.B.’s lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). L.B.’s claims against the federal government stem from a sexual assault committed by a law officer from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) who raped her in her home after responding to her call for help. L.B. filed a claim under the FTCA against the Department of the Interior (DOI) and BIA, seeking damages for her pain and suffering resulting from the sexual assault. In August 2023, District Court Judge Susan Watters dismissed L.B.’s lawsuit, claiming that Officer Bullcoming had raped L.B. to serve his own interests, not the federal government’s, and therefore, the federal government could not be held liable for the actions of its law officer. The Coalition of Large Tribes (COLT) and the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC) filed a joint-amicus brief in support of L.B. and her appeal before the Ninth Circuit. In sending the case back to the District Court, the Ninth Circuit stipulated that the case had to be re-assigned away from Judge Watters.
L.B.’s trial begins on February 4 at 9:00 a.m. Mountain Time and both COLT and NIWRC invite allies and supporters of L.B.’s quest for justice to attend the trial and show their support for safety for all Native women.
“We filed several amicus briefs in this case because the rates of violence against our women on Tribal lands are extraordinarily high,” explains J. Garret Renville, Chairman of COLT and Chairman of Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate. “When federal law enforcement responds to our calls for help by sexually assaulting our women, that just means our women and our families will stop calling law enforcement for help. And they have. The system is broken, and the only way the federal government can fix it is to start taking responsibility for the actions of their own officers. The United States should have settled this case long ago.”
“We are hoping that allies and supporters join us at the Courthouse,” states Lucy Simpson, Executive Director of NIWRC. “Despite the clear instructions provided by the Ninth Circuit that sexual assaults committed by law officers are about power and abuse of authority and not personal pleasure, the Department of Justice continues to argue that L.B. is not entitled to justice or compensation because her rapist assaulted her for his own pleasure. This argument is despicable and threatens the safety of Native women everywhere.”
“We were appalled that the Department of Justice, under Attorney General Merrick Garland’s leadership, continued for years to fight L.B. in her pursuit of justice,” states Mary Kathryn Nagle, attorney for NIWRC. “We now call on the Trump Administration to not repeat the injustices of the Biden Administration but to, instead, carve a new path of healing and reconciliation and send a strong message to Native women everywhere that assaults against Native women will not be tolerated.”
Both COLT and the NIWRC call on the United States, specifically the DOI and the BIA, to settle this case once and for all. The only correct response is for the United States to accept responsibility for the actions of its law officer, apologize, and compensate L.B. for her extreme losses. We hope the Trump Administration does the right thing. Indian Country is watching.
This press release can be found on our official website here.
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