ND lawmaker says Sioux law will be defended

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — The North Dakota House's Republican majority leader says the Legislature will be involved in choosing an attorney to defend the state's Fighting Sioux nickname law.

The law says the University of North Dakota has to keep the Fighting Sioux athletics nickname and a logo showing the profile of an American Indian warrior.

Fargo Rep. Al Carlson sponsored the law. The Board of Higher Education is going to court to try to have it thrown out.

Carlson says the board's decision is a slap at Fighting Sioux supporters who want a statewide vote on the nickname.

He says the Board of Higher Education is not its own branch of government. He tells the Grand Forks Herald (http://bit.ly/zlbxlU), “We will make sure the Legislature is adequately represented at the Supreme Court.”

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