Materials here:
gaming
Federal Reply Brief in City of Duluth v. NIC
CA Senate Approves Casino Deal for North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians
The 22-11 vote, which split members of both parties, will allow the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians to build a new casino with 2,000 slot machines on a 300-acre parcel just north of Madera in the Central Valley that was once slated to be a NASCAR track.
The deal was made possible through a rare federal approval process that allowed the tribe to build on land it has just recently acquired. Federal law stipulates that typically casinos can be build only on lands recognized as belonging to tribes before 1988, the year the federal government officially sanctioned tribal gambling.
The exception made for North Fork angered other neighboring and large casino-owning tribes around the state who said the North Fork were “reservation shopping.” The new location’s proximity to a major state highway and the city of Madera also touched off concerns about the encroachment of Indian casinos into urban areas.
Article here.
Previous coverage here.
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe Amicus Brief in Michigan v. Sault Tribe
Update in Arizona v. Tohono O’odham Nation — Remaining Contract Claims Defeated
Here are the materials in State of Arizona v. Tohono O’odham Nation (D. Ariz.):
An excerpt:
For reasons explained below, the Court concludes that §§ 201(1) and 201(2) cannot be used by Plaintiffs to establish an enforceable oral agreement that the Nation would not open a casino in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Court has already held that the Compact between the State and the Nation includes no such agreement, and that even Plaintiffs’ extrinsic evidence does not make the Compact’s terms reasonably susceptible to such a reading. Doc. 216. The Court now concludes that the Compact is a fully integrated written agreement under Chapter 9 of the Restatement, and that such an agreement between the parties forecloses any separate oral agreement. As a result, the Court will grant summary judgment in favor of the Nation on Plaintiffs’ § 201(2) claim and deny Plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration on the § 201(1) claim.
This concludes the trial court proceedings, mostly concluded in the court’s order granting summary judgment on most claims we posted about here.
IPR Coverage of Supreme Court Grant in Michigan v. Bay Mills
Here.
News Coverage of Michigan v. Bay Mills Grant
Here.
Quoting Fletcher:
The case is narrowly focused on the state’s ability to sue under the tribal-state compact — not the merits of the casino question itself, said Matthew Fletcher, director of the Indigenous Law and Policy Center at Michigan State University.
News Coverage of Chukchansi Till Tap Decision
Here.
Here’s my take:
The best course of action, said Michigan State University law professor Matthew Fletcher, who monitors legal issues in Indian country, is to wait until the … government settles the tribe’s leadership dispute.
“It just seems to me there is no rush on this judgment,” Fletcher said. “Just wait until this is all over — that would be my advice if I was the sheriff’s attorney.”
Bay Mills Press Release on Supreme Court Decision to Hear Casino Case
Statement by the Bay Mills Indian Community regarding today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court
Please attribute the following statement to Bay Mills Indian Community
Tribal Chairman Kurt Perron
The U.S. Supreme Court decides to review Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Case
The Bay Mills Indian Community is deeply concerned by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to review this case as it is in any case where it appears the Court may examine the doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity. We remain confident that the nation’s highest Court will agree with our position.
Q: What is next?
A: The Tribe will be preparing its arguments to convince the Court of the correctness of the decision by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
BACKGROUND
Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act
The Bay Mills Indian Community received funds from the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act of 1997 and purchased property in Vanderbilt. Any land purchased with the land claim money becomes a tribal reserve and thus can be the site of a tribal casino.
Bay Mills Indian Community
The Bay Mills Indian Community is a federally recognized Indian tribe with a reservation in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. In 1993, the Tribe entered a Tribal-State compact with the State of Michigan, pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Bay Mills operates two casinos on its reservation in Chippewa County, Michigan.
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