gaming – Page 84 – Turtle Talk

Interior corrected the fundamental mistake from last year’s Upper Lake letter, in which they suggested that the number of machines a state might “allow” a tribe via compacting could somehow support revenue sharing. The Department has now returned to the position articulated in a letter to Forest County Potawatomi some years ago that the ordinary elements of a compact, such as number of machines, types of games, hours of operation, etc, cannot support revenue sharing with a state. Rather, a state must confer a substantial benefit that it was not otherwise obligated to negotiate.

Commentary on Warm Springs Gaming Compact Approval

March 1, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the Federal Register notice — Fed Reg 03.01.11

From Lance Boldrey:

Here is today’s Federal Register notice announcing that a compact for Warm Springs has been “deemed approved” notwithstanding that the ultimate effectiveness of the compact is conditioned on, among other things, the land being taken into trust at a future date. (The land is not yet in trust.) Although done without fanfare, this confirms that Interior has completely repudiated the so-called “Warm Springs” doctrine put in place during the Bush Administration. That doctrine, which reversed Interior’s historical practice, held that Interior would not approve a site-specific gaming compact unless and until the land was in trust. By rejecting that doctrine, the Obama Administration returns to a more sensible policy of allowing tribes and states to work out the parameters of gaming before land goes into trust.

Op-Ed Letter on Vanderbilt Casino

February 25, 2011Kate Fort

A letter in the Flint Journal by Ken Harrington, tribal chairman, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians; David K. Sprague, tribal chairman, Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians; Homer A. Mandoka, tribal chairman, Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians; Dennis V. Kequom, tribal chief, Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe.

All tribes rely on Indian gaming to fund health care, housing, education and cultural preservation for seven generations to come. It has brought hope to our people and we cannot allow the reckless actions of one tribe to jeopardize our future.

As tribal leaders, we are acutely aware of the need to honor our promises. We made promises to the people of Michigan in our gaming compacts, and we will continue to honor our commitments. We urge the Bay Mills Tribe to do the same.

Interior Letter on Stockbridge-Munsee Compact Denial

February 25, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here: 20110218 interior rejects stockbridge-munsee compact.

Also available here.

New Mexico Appellate Court Finds Tribal Waiver of Immunity in Gaming Compact

February 25, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the unpublished decision in Bowen v. Mescalero Apache Tribe.

An excerpt:

Plaintiff has properly pled the conjunctive elements of waiver required by the Compact. Consequently, Defendant’s sovereign immunity from suit has been waived, and the district court improperly granted Defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

Not sure if this means immunity is waived simply by pleading certain jurisdictional facts, or if the tribe’s immunity is reinstated assuming those jurisdictional facts are later disproven. Interesting conundrum.