Judge mulling whether tribe's suit against state can proceed

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A Connecticut judge is considering whether to dismiss a lawsuit against the state by the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, which is seeking $610 million for land it says the state seized from 1801 to 1918.

The state has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit based on government immunity. State officials also are questioning the tribe's standing to file the lawsuit because at least two other factions of the tribe claim leadership authority.

The Connecticut Law Tribune reports that Hartford Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher held a hearing on the motion to dismiss last week and is now mulling whether to approve it.

The tribe alleges the state took 2,000 of the 2,400 acres in the tribe's reservation in western Connecticut and sold the land, but never compensated the tribe.