The federal court in Washington D.C has given the Haleck family of American Samoa until early next month to either seek to dismiss a civil suit against the U.S. Secretary of Interior or file a notice of their intention to amend the original complaint.

Filed two years ago, the federal complaint centers on the Haleck family’s local legal battle between ASG and Avamua Dave Haleck over the  26-acre lowland forest in Tafuna known as Naumati, which ASG has been trying for years to secure without success.

The federal case has been put on hold for more than a year now, per orders of the federal court, until the local case with the High Court is resolved. Both sides in the federal case were required to file a status report on the outcome of the local case.

In its status report filing last week, attorneys for both parties noted that the Appellate Division of the High Court of American issued in August this year an order and decision reversing the Land and Title Division’s judgments last year “for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and dissolving the accompanying injunctions” in ASG’s case against Avamua. (See Samoa News edition of Aug. 11 for details).

In light of the local Appellate Division decision, “the Halecks are weighing the question" of whether to proceed the complaint in federal court “or to withdraw the complaint without prejudice,” the status report says.

The parties thus asked the matter be continued in its current posture, with the expectation that in thirty days the Halecks will either seek dismissal of the case without prejudice, or (ii) advise the Court of their intention to file an amended complaint in this Court, it says and recommends the current “stay order” on this case for an additional period of time til Nov. 3.

In an order signed Monday this week, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said that no later than Nov. 3, plaintiffs shall either file an appropriate pleading seeking to dismiss this case or a notice of their intention to file an amended complaint.

Avamua had attempted for two-years to develop the Naumati land but was blocked by the local American Samoa Coastal Management Program, overseen by the Department of Commerce, due to the acreage being identified as the last of the territory’s remaining lowland rainforest, which ASG has sought to preserve. 

According to the federal complaint, the Halecks brought this action to the federal court, challenging the Interior Secretary's decision to approve the taking of the Halecks’ real property by the ASG and/or the High Court without just compensation, and of the Secretary’s decision to deny the Halecks due process of law and equal protection.

The defendants petitioned the federal court for an order and judgment mandating that the Interior Secretary direct the ASG to either purchase the Naumati 23 acres property and justly compensate the plaintiffs or issue development permits to plaintiffs for the property.