The two remaining survivors of the 1921 Race Massacre may get another shot at a reparations lawsuit after its dismissal last year.
According to court filings, the Oklahoma Supreme Court will allow oral arguments from the survivors’ legal team in April on whether to send their public nuisance case back to trial.
Lead attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons released a statement Wednesday thanking the court for their “swift attention” to the case.
In November, Solomon-Simmons and his team delivered what was their final brief to the court, emphasizing the urgency of their appeal.
“There is nowhere else for us to go," he said. "There is no going to the United States Supreme Court. There is no going to the federal court system. This is it.”
The two remaining survivors of the massacre, Viola Fletcher and Lessie Benningfield Randle, are seeking reparations, accusing the city and state of being complicit in the massacre.
Attorneys for the survivors argued Oklahoma’s public nuisance law applies to their clients because the massacre still has lasting effects for them and the Greenwood community to this day.
A Tulsa County district judge dismissed the case in July. A decision from the Supreme Court could decide if the dismissal was wrong.
Oral arguments are set for the afternoon of April 2.
