A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must pay $28 million to the state of North Dakota to cover damages caused by protesters who gathered by the thousands in 2016 and 2017 to object to the since-completed Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) project. The pipeline currently carries more than a half a million gallons of crude oil a day across four states. 

U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Traynor on April 23 found that the Corps “abandoned the rule of law” when it didn’t enforce its own procedures by either forcing them to leave or requiring protesters to get a special use permit to use federally owned land for their encampment. Traynor determined that the Corps is at fault for negligence, public nuisance and civil trespass. 

In his ruling, Traynor said the Corps intentionally avoided its duty to require a mandated special use permit and falsely announced that a permit had been granted, which prevented law enforcement from removing the protestors. 

“Essentially, the Corps invited and encouraged the DAPL protestors and their violent and tumultuous behavior on and off Corps-managed land, and North Dakota had to clean up the mess,” Traynor wrote.

“For months, North Dakota dealt with protest activity that originated from Corps-managed land, spread to other areas of North Dakota, and endangered the health and safety of North Dakota, its citizens, its property and its law enforcement officers who kept the peace at the protests,” he added.  

Protestors camped near the state’s Standing Rock Reservation to try to stop the pipeline’s construction. The project was not located on the lands of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe but ran underneath Lake Oahe, the reservations source for drinking water, which was seen as polluting and desecrating Native American land. 

Traynor called the damage to state and private property caused by the protest “unfathomable … human excrement pits, shoddily constructed structures used for housing, makeshift roadways, burnt public vehicles and violent clashes with law enforcement were common throughout the events of this case.”

North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong (R) applauded the ruling as a “major win for North Dakota and the rule of law.” 

In its complaint against the Corps, filed in 2019, the state sought $38-million to cover damages caused by the encampment that it estimates reached between 5,500 and 8,000 people at its peak. 

Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said in a news release that the federal government reimbursed the state $10 million in 2017 to pay for some of the damages caused by the protest. In addition, Dallas-based oil and gas company and pipeline developer and operator Energy Transfer provided $15 million that same year to the state to cover protest-related costs. 

In a separate case in March, a North Dakota jury decided that the environmental nonprofit Greenpeace must pay $660 million in damages to Energy Transfer as Greenpeace took part in a publicity campaign that delayed the pipeline and increased the cost by $300 million. Greenpeace plans to appeal the verdict. 

A Corps spokesperson declined to comment on the judgment against it, saying that the Corps does not comment on litigation. The U.S. Dept. of Justice, which represented the Corps in the case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it will appeal the decision.

BISMARCK — A new North Dakota law is expected to put checks on the influence that artificial intelligence and algorithms have on health care decisions, resulting in fewer delays in treatment and medication for patients.

On Wednesday, April 23, Gov. Kelly Armstrong signed

Senate Bill 2280, which aims to reform the “prior authorization” process for patients needing imaging services, medications and surgeries.

Prior authorization is the approval from a patient’s health insurance provider that may be required for a service, treatment or prescription to be covered by their plan, if it’s not an emergency. Prior authorization does not guarantee payment, but makes it more likely their health plan will cover the cost.

The new North Dakota law puts deadlines on insurance plans for those prior authorization decisions and requires any denials to be made by a licensed physician, not by AI or insurance companies.

The bill passed unanimously in the House and nearly so in the Senate, and with Armstrong’s signature, takes effect Jan. 1, 2026.

Sen. Scott Meyer, R-Grand Forks, the bill’s lead sponsor, said it passed due to proponents and opponents sitting down and working it out.

“Just because it was a vote that led to almost unanimous support, it was still a lot of work to get to that point,” Meyer told The Forum.

Dr. Stefanie Gefroh, president of Essentia Health’s West Market, said North Dakota is one of only a few states without statewide oversight of prior authorization.

“It’s kind of an open book with no guard rails, essentially, around what is an acceptable time frame for a patient to receive clearance to get services,” Gefroh said.

She said some physicians are having to spend up to 14 hours a week trying to justify a medical decision made for a patient.

Meyer said American Medical Association data shows among all of the prior authorization requests in Medicare Advantage plans that were denied and appealed in 2022, more than 83% were overturned.

The result was delays in care, treatment and medications for those patients.

Gefroh said most delays involve higher cost items: MRIs, surgeries, and chemotherapy and immunologic agents.

The law calls for insurance companies to make timely decisions; within seven days for non-urgent requests and 72 hours for urgent ones.

Requests for services that go unmet or unanswered are considered “authorized.”

“That’s why the default to ‘yes’ really is quite extraordinary, because the beautiful part of it is we’re not holding up patient care,” she said.

In addition, any denials for services must be made by licensed physicians experienced in the relevant condition, not by AI or insurance analysts.

Gefroh said insurance companies that don’t adhere to the guidelines will likely have to adjust their internal processes.

“I don’t think they want to be approving by default,” she said.

There was pushback against the bill from representatives of multiple insurance companies, who said it would increase costs.

In the end, the bill prevailed due to support from the North Dakota Hospital Association, and a coalition led by Essentia of 20 health care and patient advocacy organizations representing physicians, pharmacists, hospitals, physical therapists, and advocates for seniors, children, and cancer patients.

“It’s doing the right thing and putting the patients at the center and anytime we can put the highlight on that, I’m pleased,” Gefroh said.

FARGO — The state of North Dakota has won its case against the federal government.

A federal judge has ruled in favor of North Dakota, according to a court ruling released on Wednesday, April 23, and ordered the United States to pay nearly $28 million in damages stemming from law enforcement actions during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in 2016 and 2017.

From 2016 to 2017, thousands of people gathered along the Missouri River in Morton County, N.D., close to where the pipeline crosses under the river just north of the Stranding Rock Reservation.

The protests were started by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in response to pollution threats to the tribe’s water supply, the imposition onto Indigenous land and the disruption to cultural sites.

This marks the “first time in history” that a court has ruled in favor of a state against the federal government in trial, according to a release from U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.

“This ruling is a colossal win for the North Dakota taxpayers who were forced to bear the cost of our federal government’s abdication of its duties during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests,” Cramer said. “Even before neglecting their responsibilities, our government literally facilitated the violence. This $27.8 million judgment is a win for the rule of law, for sure, and it’s a win for the Constitution of the United States. It’s the result of nearly a decade of hard work from North Dakota’s Attorney General’s office and I really thank them for their efforts!”

The lawsuit came about when the state of North Dakota sought financial recompense from the federal government in the wake of costs incurred by the state during the protests. The trial took place in Bismarck starting in February 2024 and lasted for several weeks. The state of North Dakota said the protests led to $38 million in expenses, according to reporting by the North Dakota Monitor.

U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Traynor decided in favor of the state, according to the ruling, and specifically noted that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contributed to the costs for the state of North Dakota.

“The Corps’ negligent actions and inactions created a public nuisance in North Dakota, enabling countless instances of civil trespass to occur during the Protests, subjecting the United States (through the Corps and the actions of other agencies) to liability under North Dakota tort law and exacerbating the harms that were visited upon North Dakota,” the ruling states.

This money will go a long way to make “the state of North Dakota whole again,” U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said in a release.

“The federal government, through its negligence, allowed lawlessness to take hold on Army Corps land, resulting in months of disruption to local residents’ lives, threats to their safety and significant costs to the state,” Hoeven said. “We commend Attorney General Drew Wrigley and his team for securing today’s verdict, which recognizes the harm resulting from the Obama administration’s refusal to enforce the law and police illegal activity during the DAPL protests.”

The move was applauded by North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong and Attorney General Drew Wrigley in a press release on Wednesday.

“This is a major win for North Dakota taxpayers and the rule of law,” Armstrong and Wrigley said in the joint statement. “As outlined in trial testimony and Judge Traynor’s ruling, decisions made by the Obama administration emboldened protesters and ultimately caused millions of dollars in damage to North Dakota, while endangering the health and safety of North Dakota communities, families and law enforcement officers who responded to the protests.”

In March, a Morton County jury ordered Greenpeace to pay $660 million in damages to the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline, finding the environmental group helped incite illegal behavior by anti-pipeline protesters, the North Dakota Monitor reported.

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