The court battle over whether or not Jim Thorpe's remains stays in the Carbon County town named after him apparently isn't over.

In October, an appeals court had overturned a ruling by a federal judge and said that Thorpe's body can stay at the mausoleum along North Street in the local borough.The federal judges had ordered in April 2013 that the body can be removed from the present burial site.On Monday, a petition was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit asking for a rehearing on the matter.The petition was filed by Charles L. Riddle of Riddle Patent Law LLC, Scranton, and Stephen R. Ward and Daniel E. Gomez of Conner & Winters LLP of Tulsa, Oklahoma, all representing the plaintiffs.The plaintiffs are Jim Thorpe's sons, John Thorpe, William Thorpe, and Richard Thorpe, and the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma, of which Jim Thorpe was a member.Defendants are the borough of Jim Thorpe, Michael Sofranko, Ronald Confer, John McGuire, Joseph Marzen, W. Todd Mason, Jeremy Melber, Justin Yaich, Joseph Krebs, Greg Strubinger, Kyle Sheckler and Joanne Klitsch.Representing to the borough are attorneys William G. Schwab and Vincent R. Garvey, of William G. Schwab & Associates, Lehighton.The appeal to the verdict is made on the basis that the original appeals court "unjustifiably revises Congress' broad definition of what entities are required to participate in repatriation proceedings," that the appeal panel's findings that a repatriation would be "absurd" rests on incorrect assumptions, and that a rehearing is warranted to ensure uniform precedent results.According to the appeal, the repatriation act "is civil rights legislation enacted to remedy a long history of basic human rights abuses of America Indians, many of which were unique to Indian people, including the denial of their right to bury their own in accordance with their own religious beliefs, customs and practices."It adds that it is incorrectly understood that ruling in favor of the plaintiffs would result in an immediate exhumation for a reburial of Thorpe's body.The appeal says that "repatriation requires additional processes, including notice to lineal descendants, and an opportunity for fact development to determine if repatriation is proper under the circumstances."It adds, "The panel also fundamentally misunderstood NAGPRA in relying on a concern that the statute could be used to override the burial decision of a surviving spouse. But a spouse's burial decision is one of the considerations that will be taken into account in the fact-finding portion of the repatriation process, along with factors such as the circumstances surrounding the burial, the wishes of the decedent, and the views of other next-of-kin. This mirrors the processes recognized by common law and established under state reinterment statutes."According to the appeal, the "unusual" nature of Jim Thorpe's burial is why this case originally occurred.It states, "Jim Thorpe's stated wish was to be buried within his native Sac and Fox land in present-day Oklahoma. However, in the middle of a traditional Sac and Fox burial rite Jim Thorpe's casket was forcefully removed. Thorpe's remains were then shopped around the country while they were stored, and eventually were buried in a roadside park not a cemetery intended to become a tourist attraction."It says, "To this day, the borough continues to appropriate Thorpe's Indian heritage for purposes of generating tourism, including by holding generic Indian-like events featuring powwows, drum circles, and dances not true to Sac and Fox culture or traditions."The town of Jim Thorpe acquired the athlete's body through an arrangement with his widow, Patsy, after Thorpe died in 1953.As part of that arrangement, the former towns of Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk merged and changed their name to Jim Thorpe.In 1957, he was interred in what was believed to be his final resting place.The agreement Patsy had reached with the borough provides that the borough is responsible for the maintenance at the burial site.Family members of Thorpe have visited the site over the years and have worked with the borough to conduct tribal ceremonies.