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Oglala Sioux Tribe Sues Big Beer

   

Whiteclay
The Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota filed a $500 million lawsuit earlier this month against Anheuser-Busch InBev, SABMiller, Molson Coors, MillerCoors LLC, and Pabst, alleging that they knowingly contributed to devastating alcohol-related problems on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Damages from the lawsuit would be directed toward the cost of services such as health care, social services, and child rehabilitation, to address alcohol-related harm that tribe members have experienced. The lawsuit also targets specific alcohol retailers just across the border in Whiteclay, Nebraska, alleging that the stores sold primarily to Pine Ridge residents with the knowledge that the alcohol would be smuggled onto the reservation. In response, Nebraska legislators are now considering a measure that would enable Whiteclay to be declared an “alcohol impact zone” and allow limitations on the sale of alcohol.