A federal court has thrown out a lawsuit challenging New York’s ban on Native American mascots.
In May, the Massapequa school district teamed up with a Native American organization to sue the state’s Board of Regents over its mascot ban.
That lawsuit came after the district entered an agreement with the Native American Guardian’s Association to keep the mascot, the Massapequa Chiefs. The agreement required the district to offer courses about Native American history.
They claim the state’s mandatory mascot ban negated that agreement, and infringed on their constitutional rights.
Now, a judge ruled the agreement was “not a contract.” The court said NAGA had no authority to grant the district permission of the mascot as it held no copyright rights over the image.
NAGA has until the end of December to amend their complaint.