gaming – Page 90 – Turtle Talk

Federal Court Effectively Orders California Gaming Tribe into Arbitration over Negligence Claim

November 29, 2010Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Saroli v. Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians (S.D. Cal.):

DCT Order on Agua Caliente Motion to Dismiss

An excerpt:

Section 10.2(d) of the Amended Compact provides that Defendant consents to arbitrate personal injury claims and that Defendant agrees to waive sovereign immunity “in any action brought in federal court … to (1) enforce the parties’ obligation to arbitrate, (2) confirm, correct, modify, or vacate the arbitral award rendered in the arbitration, or (3) enforce or execute a judgment based upon the award.” (Compl., Ex. A at § 10.2(d)(ii).) The parties submit no other documents showing a waiver of sovereign immunity. Based on the plain and express language of Section 10.2(d) above, the Court finds that, at most, Defendant has agreed to a limited waiver of sovereign immunity for claims relating to arbitration. The issue is now whether Plaintiff’s claims fall under this waiver.

1500-Slot Casino Planned for Port Huron if BMIC Vanderbilt Casino Succeeds

November 28, 2010Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

Here is the article.

An excerpt:

With little to lose and much to gain, the Bay Mills Indian Community has opened a mini-casino in Vanderbilt, a village on Interstate 75 north of Gaylord, without federal or state approval.

If the play in Vanderbilt succeeds, the tribe will convert the old Port Huron post office on Military Street into a temporary casino with 1,500 slot machines.

Eventually, Bay Mills intends to build a permanent casino and luxury hotel at Desmond Landing, where the tribe owns 16.5 acres. This parcel would become the first Indian reservation in Port Huron since the 1830s when federal troops forcibly removed the Blackwater band of the Chippewa to Kansas.

New Governor Selects New Mexico Indian Affairs Review Team

November 28, 2010Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the article. Congrats to the team.

One of those selected, Brian Lewis, has just published an article on off-reservation gaming in the Thomas Cooley Journal of Practical and Clinical Law. The article is titled, “A DAY LATE AND A DOLLAR SHORT: SECTION 2719 OF THE INDIAN GAMING REGULATORY ACT, THE INTERPRETATION OF ITS EXCEPTIONS AND THE PART 292 REGULATIONS.”

Here it is: Lewis Gaming Article.

ICT Article on Bay Mills Vanderbilt Casino Controversy

November 27, 2010November 24, 2010Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From ICT:

By Gale Courey Toensing, Today staff

VANDERBILT, Mich. – In a move that astonished the gaming world in Michigan and outraged some of the state’s tribal nations, the Bay Mills Indian Community announced it has opened a new casino on off-reservation land without the usual state and federal approvals.

Bay Mills tribal leaders said Nov. 3 that the tribe’s newest gaming facility on 47 acres of land in Vanderbilt purchased in fee simple in August complies with all applicable gaming laws. The new casino has 38 slot machines.

The tribe operates two casinos in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on reservation land. The Vanderbilt casino is in the northern part of the Lower Peninsula, about 170 miles north of Lansing.

“The new business venture was seen as positive by the residents of Vanderbilt, where the unemployment rate is one of the highest in the nation,” the tribe announced on its website – http://www.baymillsnews.com.

The new business venture was not viewed as positively by other tribes in the state.

The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Gun Lake Tribe of Pottawatomi Indians, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, and Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe immediately issued a statement condemning the action.

“This attempt to conduct Indian gaming in the absence of trust land is a serious violation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and long-held federal Indian gaming policy. Bay Mills has also violated the state gaming compacts, most notably Section 9 which clearly requires the consent of all Michigan tribes to pursue gaming on non-reservation lands,” the tribal leaders wrote.

The five-tribe coalition called on the National Indian Gaming Commission, the Justice and Interior departments to work quickly with state officials to close the new casino, “which threatens to undermine the significant public support for Indian gaming here within the State of Michigan and around the country.”

On Nov. 8 the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians Chairman Ken Harrington announced that the Bay Mills casino violates the exclusivity zone provision of its gaming compact. The tribe will stop the six percent of net slot revenues to the state – a loss of millions of dollars to state’s coffers.

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Appellate Briefs in Tohono O’odham Nation v. City of Glendale — Glendale’s Effort to Annex Tribe-Owned Land

November 19, 2010Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here are the materials so far in this case, pending in the Arizona Court of Appeals:

TON Opening Brief

Glendale Answer Brief

Bay Mills Indian Community Gaming Ordinance Amendment (Sept. 15, 2010)

November 16, 2010Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here, and here: BMIC Gaming Ordinance Amendment 9-15-10

Interlochen Public Radio Spot on BMIC’s Vanderbilt Casino

November 15, 2010Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From IPR:

Listen

VanderbiltCasino.mp3

By Linda Stephan

There’s a new Indian-run casino in Vanderbilt north of Gaylord along I-75. It’s a small facility with just a few dozen slot machines.

Its opening came as a shock to the state, and to several Indian nations in northern Michigan who contend it’s illegal.

Quiet Open
The new casino opened so quietly early this month that its nearest competitor knew nothing of it.

“I heard 9&10 News was traveling over there to view the opening. So that’s how we found out,” says Ken Harrinton, chairman of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. His tribe owns a much larger casino, about 30 miles away in Petoskey, The Odawa Casino Resort.

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