Cherokee Leaders Can Be Sued

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A federal appeals court has ruled that while officers of the Cherokee Nation can be sued, the tribe cannot be.

Tuesday's ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is part of the lawsuit filed by the descendants of former slaves owned by the tribe, known as freedmen. The group alleges they were prevented from voting in two tribal elections in 2003.

After a lower court allowed the tribe to be included in the lawsuit, the tribe cited the doctrine of sovereign immunity and said it couldn't be sued.

The appeals court agreed, but said the tribe's officers do not share in that sovereign immunity.

The appeals court sent the case back to district court in Washington, D.C.

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