Along with Nix, Patterson attorney Austin Tighe, former U.S. Senator Joseph I. Lieberman was introduced Friday as one of the lawyers demanding the State of Connecticut pay $610 million to compensate the Schaghticokes for 2,000 acres of tribal lands taken over 117 years, beginning in 1801.
Tighe and Lieberman stressed that, unlike other tribal land claims, the lawsuit is not directed at the present owners of the land once controlled by the Schaghticokes. It is solely directed at the State of Connecticut.
Tighe said the claim was based not on present value, but the land’s worth when it was taken, plus 6 percent in compounded annual interest. Tighe said the state held the lands in trust and was responsible for the resulting mortgages, and subsequently failed to pay the Schaghticokes as promised.
The tribe is represented by NP partner Michael Angelovich and Of Counsel attorney Austin Tighe.
The Connecticut Mirror article can be viewed below:
10/14/16