(CNN) — The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against the Navajo Nation, dismissing a lawsuit arguing that the federal government has the legal duty under treaties signed in the 1800s
Tribes in the southwest hold significant rights to the Colorado River’s water. But they’ve been left out of nearly every major agreement to manage the river. Leaders across the region are debating how to use less water amid the region’s warming climate. Tribes say they never got the chance to use their water in the first place, and that everyone in the river basin should plan for a future where they do.
Several Supreme Court justices struggled Monday to define when obstruction of justice becomes a deportable offense, with Justice Clarence Thomas invoking mythical sea monsters to suggest the court must choose the lesser of two evils.