Here is the district court order in Warren v. United States (W.D. N.Y.) — DCT Order re Seneca Amicus Motion
gaming
Legal Analysis of Restructuring Tribal Gaming Enterprise Debts
From Gaming Industry Media (via Indianz):
The issue of casino bankruptcies in Indian country is tricky – and evolving. We turned to former National Indian Gaming Commissioner Tom Foley to analyze the situation. Foley, who works closely with Spectrum Gaming Group (publisher of this newsletter) and is a founding member of the PACE/Minnesota government relations firm, wrote this analysis with PACE partner Kevin Quigley and Bill Fisher of the Gray Plant Mooty law firm.
Over the last two decades Indian gaming has grown from a handful of modest-sized bingo facilities in a few states into a $26 billion industry with over 425 tribal gaming establishments operated by 230 tribes in 28 states, many such operations being large-scale casino destination resorts offering Class III gaming. Tribes and others (bondholders, bank syndicates, development/management companies) have leveraged significant investments to fuel this growth, betting heavily on the long-term success of the gaming projects.
In doing so, the question lurking in the minds of many investors (and seldom considered likely to need a definitive answer) has been: What happens if the bet goes bad? The recent credit freeze and recession has thrust this question to the forefront of the industry, particularly for creditors holding substantial Indian gaming debt. Like many issues involving the Indian gaming industry, the answer – and related issues – is yet to be discovered and is evolving with the law.
Commercial gaming debt restructurings are generally made against the backdrop of a well-defined and understood set of legal parameters (i.e. the U.S. Bankruptcy Code). But even here, there is some uncertainty as to the interplay of the bankruptcy laws and state gaming regulatory requirements.
Attempts to restructure tribal gaming debt will only add a number of other variables to the equation and impact several different interested parties (tribal operators, tribal members and casino employees, management companies, lenders/bondholders). Each of these will have a perspective about how the law should address tribal gaming debt restructurings that may, or may not, be consistent with the others.
Some of the questions that will need to be resolved include:
- Do U.S. bankruptcy laws apply to tribal gaming debt restructurings?
- What impact will tribal sovereignty and gaming laws have on restructuring attempts?
- How will the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, and regulations adopted by the National Indian Gaming Commission interplay with “usual” debt work-out negotiations?
Student Note on IGRA and Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction
Michigan Casino Market Stagnant
Old news….
From the K’zoo Gazette:
The gaming-market “pie” has grown only slightly while being sliced into smaller pieces, analysts say
BY CHRIS KNAPE | Gazette News Service
Michigan’s economy is down, its unemployment is up and the auto industry is in a battle for its life.
But when it came to spending on lady luck at casinos, the state bucked national trends until winter set in.
Revenue at Michigan’s three commercial (non-Indian) casinos was up 1.3 percent in 2008, while commercial casinos around the country saw revenue decline 4.7 percent from record 2007 levels, according to state data and a study by the American Gaming Association.
Michigan’s tribal casinos, though not tracked by the association, also saw some revenue growth, based on records of payments they made via their state revenue-sharing agreements.
But growth in that sector was scattered, driven by the first full year of operations at the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo.
“It’s a dynamic where you don’t know if it’s an aberration, or if it’s a peculiarity of the Michigan market,” said Eric Bush, administrative manager for the Michigan Gaming Control Board, which regulates the state’s casinos.
“It doesn’t seem to be making a downturn and following the economy.”
The upward trend is not expected to continue, however. Eric Kalm, executive director of the MGCB, said the big question now for the state is how big of a revenue drop it should expect.
Garland v. Choctaw Casino — Sovereign Immunity Case
Here are the materials in Garland v. Choctaw Casino (E.D. Okla.), dismissed on sovereign immunity grounds:
Stroud v. Armenta — Employment Claim Dismissed in State Court on Sovereign Immunity Grounds
Here are the materials in Stroud v. Armenta (opinion here), an unpublished case decided by the California Court of Appeals involving the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians:
Sault Tribe to Vote on Chairman/CEO Separation
From AIPBlog:
Tonight the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians voted to have a referendum to change the Tribes Constitutional By-Laws and Separate the Chairman/CEO position into two distinct positions: one elected and one otherwise.
AIPBlog followers realize I have advocated this type of separation and cited several academic studies which indicate more positive outcomes from separating politics and business in Tribes. It is a pleasure as a member of the Sault Tribe to see some action in this direction.
Op-Ed on Pokagon Band Revenue Sharing
From Indianz:
“The release of $6.2 million in revenue sharing from the Four Winds Casino to local governmental units this month was welcome news. The schools, libraries, New Buffalo township and city, Berrien County, as well as the state of Michigan, sorely need the funds that had been accruing since the Pokagon band of the Potawatomi Indians opened the New Buffalo casino in 2007. This first revenue sharing payment was nearly a year and a half overdue. Meanwhile, the entities kept anteing up services, including police protection and road work, to support the gaming operation. This month’s distribution of funds ought to be the start of something good for both the Pokagons and the community. The cash-strapped governmental units should now receive an annual infusion of money to provide needed services. And those entities that helped establish the Four Winds will have good reason to support the Pokagons’ enterprise. ”
Get the Story:
Editorial: Governmental units win with casino payout (The South Bend Tribune 5/19)
Menominee Sues Interior over Off-Reservation Gaming
Here’s the news article, via Penchanga, with an excerpt:
The Menominee Nation has filed a lawsuit that seeks to overturn the U.S. Department of the Interior’s decision to block the tribe from building a casino at Dairyland Greyhound Park.
The tribe filed the suit in the U.S. District Court in Green Bay on Friday against the U.S. Department of the Interior and Kenneth Salazar, current secretary of that department. The lawsuit asks the court to declare a January 2009 denial of the Menominee’s land-into-trust application to create a casino at Dairyland as invalid and unlawful and to overturn that decision.
And the complaint — Menominee II Complaint
Greektown Update — Court Grants Motion to Assume Development Contract with City
Here’s the news article explaining all of this (link to Freep article). And here are the materials:
Turtle Talk 
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