Tap Pilam lawsuit over Alamo is dismissed again
For the second time, a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Tap Pilam Coahuilte can Nation over its efforts to have a say in what happens tohu man remains found at the Alamo, among other claims.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Western District of Texas, was dismissed Wednesday, but the indigenous group has vowed to appeal.
“We are not too surprised,” said Ramón Vásquez, executive director of the American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions, a nonprofit of Tap Pilam. Members of the nation are descendants of the indigenous people who lived in and around the Alamo mission centuries ago.
The defendants were satisfied with the dismissal.
“Alamo Trust and Mr. McDonald are pleased with the court’s ruling,” said Manuel Mungia, counsel for Alamo Trust CEO Douglass W. McDonald, one of the defendants. “Alamo Trust looks forward to continuing its important efforts top reserve and protect the Alamo .”
Plaintiffs Tap Pilam, San Antonio Missions Cemetery Association and descendant Raymond Hernandez originally sued the Alamo Trust, Alamo Trust CEO Douglass W. McDonald, Texas General Land Office and Land Commissioner George P. Bush, the Texas Historical Commission and the City of San Antonio.
The group is seeking to slow the $450 million project to overhaul Alamo Plaza until its legal claims are reviewed in court.
U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia ruled that the constitutional rights of members of the Tap Pilam to freely exercise their religion were not violated when they weren’t allowed to conduct their annual religious remembrance ceremony inside the Alamo chapel and weren’t allowed to have a say in how human remains found in the area are handled.
In his order, Garcia ruled that both of those are “benefits that are not otherwise generally available,” among other findings.
Art Martínez de Vara, tribal counsel for Tap Pilam, found room for optimism in the court’s order.
“We lost on two procedural matters, but we got three victories ,” he said. “The court clearly stated we had standing, the court determined we were harmed, and McDonald and Bush lack sovereign immunity.
“I think we have fertile ground for appeal.”
McDonald and Bush had argued they have sovereignty immunity as state officials and can’t be sued, but Garcia ruled in the order issued Wednesday that they don’t have that protection.
A message left with a representative of the General Land Office did not return a call seeking comment.
Tap Pilam’s first lawsuit against San Antonio and the two state agencies was dismissed in December by Garcia.
In related action, Martínez de Vara filed a lawsuit on behalf of Tap Pilam last week in the 345th Civil District Court in Travis County.
That suit accuses Bush, McDonald and the other entities of violating the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act by not allowing the annual religious remembrance ceremony at the Alamo for their ancestors, something that the group had been allowed to do at the site for 20 years.
“We also look forward to our day in state court, where we think the state claim is far stronger, and this established religious practice of my clients will be affirmed,” Martinez de Vara said Friday.