# Eleven 9th Circuit judges urge the Supreme Court to revisit the Oak Flat ruling

Canonical page: https://technooptimist.io/stories/eleven-9th-circuit-judges-urge-the-supreme-court-to-revisit-the-oak-e17f99fa
Date: 2 Oct 2026
About: [Rio Tinto](https://technooptimist.io/companies/rio-tinto.md) · [Resolution Copper](https://technooptimist.io/materials/resolution-copper.md)
Original source: https://www.kjzz.org/tribal-natural-resources/2026-10-02/11-judges-from-9th-circuit-ask-u-s-supreme-court-to-correct-tragic-error-over-apache-holy-site

The Ninth Circuit again declined to rehear challenges to the Oak Flat land exchange, but 11 of its judges, including Chief Judge Mary Murguia, dissented and urged the Supreme Court to intervene. Resolution Copper called it another ruling in its favour. The land has been in Resolution's hands since March.

## Key facts

- Murguia wrote the court missed a second chance to fix a 'tragic error'.
- Plaintiffs include the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthworks and the Inter Tribal Association of Arizona.
- More than 2,400 acres were transferred in March 2026.

---

The Techno Optimist tracks every frontier of technology, program by program: https://technooptimist.io/ (a Markdown version of any page: add .md to its URL; site map for agents: https://technooptimist.io/llms.txt).
Data API (JSON, realtime stream): https://technooptimist.io/developers. People read 5 pages free, then Reader $10/month; these Markdown pages are open to agents.