gaming – Page 66 – Turtle Talk

Redding Rancheria Challenge to IGRA Section 20 Regs Denied

February 20, 2012February 20, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here is the order.

Briefs will go up once the N.D. Cal. pacer site comes back up.

Federal Court Affirms Mass. Gaming Law Granting Preference to Tribes

February 17, 2012February 18, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher6 Comments

No bones about it. This is a scary opinion delving at length into the constitutional infirmities of the political status classification doctrine first articulated in Morton v. Mancari. This judge would apply strict scrutiny but for the Mancari precedent (one he finds weak at best).

A case to watch to be sure, since KG Urban no doubt smells blood in the water. And Massachusetts will no doubt defend this law diligently.

Update: Paul Clement represents the plaintiffs.

News coverage here, via Pechanga.

Briefs and other materials are here.

Lansing Casino Proposal Investors Named

February 17, 2012February 17, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here, via Pechanga.

From the article:

Early on in the meeting, Lansing City Council President Brian Jeffries asked City Attorney Brig Smith for more information regarding the investors in Lansing Future LLC, the developer contracted by the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians to finance the casino.

“I have an issue in terms of knowing who the developer is,” Jeffries said.

Smith then introduced Bill Martines, managing director of Lansing Future LLC, who assured the committee that his group wasn’t intentionally trying to cloak itself in secrecy, and listed every investor in Lansing Future.

Besides Martines, president of All Day Interactive, the other investors in the group are Jerry Campbell, CEO of HomeBancorp; Robert Liggett, Jr., owner of the Big Boy Restaurant chain; John Krasula of Decision Consultants; Winfield Cooper, a Flint-based commercial mortgage broker; Mike Garavaglia, a special counsel to Mortgage Investors Corp., and The Sovereignty Group, comprised of Lansing-based lawyer Richard McLellan and Bill Cross Jr.

McLellan joined The Sovereignty Group two weeks ago, after telling media he was not involved in Lansing Future or the casino project. He was not involved in the group until after he made the comments, he said.

Rep. Mack and Sen. Akaka Op/Ed on Internet Gaming in The Hill

February 15, 2012February 15, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Update in Gila River v. US (Challenge to Tohono O’Odham Trust Acquisition in Ninth Circuit)

February 14, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

This is the news report noting that the Ninth Circuit will hear oral argument in this case in April (via Pechanga).

Here are the opening briefs.

And the rest of the briefs are now in:

Interior Answering Brief

Tohono O’odham Nation Brief

City and State Reply Brief

Gila River Reply

Rios and Terry Reply

WLNS: Gov. Snyder/AG Schuette Opposes Lansing Casino Proposal

February 14, 2012February 14, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here.

And here’s the letter:

Eitrem 0207121

An excerpt:

Governor Rick Snyder and Attorney General Bill Schuette put their opposition of the proposed Lansing casino in writing Monday. Their letter was addressed to the chairman of the Sault Saint Marie tribe of Chippewa Indians.

For the casino to even become a reality in the first place it needs to be approved by the federal government. The tribe has to ask the U.S. Department of Interior to take the land into trust and make it tribal land, then it would be eligible for gaming.

One issue facing the proposal to build a casino in Lansing is the fact that there are already 3 off-reservation casinos in the state.

The final decision would come from the federal government, but one expert says the opposition from state leaders could make this all a bit more difficult.

“The governor role I think can potentially be huge in that politics is everything when it comes to off reservation gaming,” said Matthew Fletcher, director of the Indigenous Law and Policy Center at MSU.

The letter made public from the governor and attorney general to the Sault St. Marie Chippewa Indian tribe has Fletcher a bit surprised.

“That’s pretty tough…tough talk,” said Fletcher.

In the letter it flatly says they oppose the opening of the casino.

“If this was a different world and the Governor supported this, it would put pressure on the Department of Interior to act quicker. It would make the other tribes back down,” said Fletcher.

Fletcher says the Department of Interior will listen closely to what the governor has to say and his opposition could cause a great delay in moving forward.

“This is a chunk of land that is right in the heart of the state’s capital and certainly the state is going to have say in what happens when that land completely leaves the state’s jurisdiction,” said Fletcher.

Opening Brief in Washington State Court Appeal re: Jurisdiction Over Tribal Casino Financing

February 13, 2012February 13, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here is the opening brief in Outsource Services Mgmt LLC v. Nooksack Business Corp.:

670506 Appellant Nooksack Business’s

The issue (from the brief):

This Court should reverse for legal errors the denial of the Nooksack Business Corporation’s motion to dismiss Outsource Services Management LLC’s complaint. The trial court erred when it denied the Nooksack Business Corporation’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, lack of personal jurisdiction and failure to state a claim. Reversal is required to preserve the sovereignty of the Tribe under Washington and federal law and this Court’s jurisprudence regarding jurisdiction, and to comply with the Indian Gaming Regulation Act.