Mille Lacs Effort to Pierce Money Centers Corporate Veil Partially Successful

Here are the new materials in Corporate Commission of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians v. Money Centers of America (D. Minn.):

258 Mlle Lacs Motion for Summary J

262 Wolfington Motion for Summary J

301 DCT Order

Prior orders here and here.

TIGA Informational Meeting Agenda — Jan. 17, 2014

Here:

TIGA Meeting Agenda 1 17 2014

Judge Gorton Holds Massachusetts Gaming Act Passes Constitutional Scrutiny

Here are the materials in KG Urban v. Patrick (D. Mass.):

140 Mass Gaming Commission Motion for Summary J

143 KG Urban Motion for Summary J

151 KG Urban Opposition

152 Mass Gaming Commission Opposition

153 Mass Gaming Commission Reply

160 DCT Opinion

News coverage here.

Prior posts in this case are here, here, here, and here. First Circuit materials are here.

Fresno Bee Article on Intertribal Gaming Market Competition in California’s San Joaquin Valley

The Bee published “Valley Indian casinos in flux as tribes jockey for gambling dollars.”

Fletcher Paper on the Seminole Tribe and the Origins of Indian Gaming

At the invitation of Alex Pearl and the FIU Law Review to write a symposium piece on Florida Indian history and law, a challenge for me since I know very little about it, I came up with “The Seminole Tribe and the Origins of Indian Gaming.” Assuming the law review finds it publishable, it will appear in the FIU Law Review alongside the work of luminaries like Siegfriend Weissner and Sarah Krakoff.

Here is the abstract:

The Seminole Tribe of Florida has played perhaps the most important role in the origins and development of Indian gaming in the United States of any single tribe. The tribe opened the first tribally owned high stakes bingo hall in 1979. The tribe in 1981 was involved in one of the earliest lower court decisions forming the basis of the legal theory excluding most states from the regulation of high stakes bingo, a theory that Congress largely codified in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) years later. The tribe was a party to the Supreme Court decision in 1996 that radically altered the bargaining power between tribes and states over the negotiation and regulation of casino-style gaming under IGRA. And more recently, the tribe has been a leading participant in negotiations and litigation over the regulatory landscape of Indian gaming after the 1996 decision. The Tribe is one of the most successful Indian gaming tribes in the nation.

This paper traces that history, but also offers thoughts on how the culture and traditional governance structures of the Seminole Tribe played a part in its leadership role in the arena of Indian gaming.

Massachusetts Sues Wampanoag Tribe over Gaming

Here is the complaint in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) (Sup. Jud. Ct. — Suffolk Co.):

Com. v. Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah Complaint

Jeffrey Nelson Opinion Piece on TIGA

Here (subscription required but you can sign on for free trial):

Indian law attorney Jeffrey Nelson looks at the new Tribal Internet Gaming Alliance and its impact on the tribal gaming landscape

Tribal Internet Gaming Alliance Formed

Materials here:

LDF-TIGA Media Release

TIGA Fact Sheet 2013-10-21

TIGA Treaty (Final) 2013-7-25

Press release text here:

Tribal Internet Gaming Alliance forming 25 Years After IGRA
 

Twenty-five years to the day after Congress enacted the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa began a new era of Indian gaming.  On October 17, 2013, the Tribe’s governing body voted unanimously to ratify an inter-tribal agreement to create the Tribal Internet Gaming Alliance (TIGA).  The agreement, being called an inter-tribal treaty, will organize tribes across the country to both offer and regulate internet and mobile phone gaming.  Until laws change, TIGA will accept real-money wagers only from people who are physically present in the member tribes’ jurisdictions, such as patrons at tribal casinos and visitors to other tribal lands.  When customers are outside of tribal jurisdiction, the games will be fun-play and will offer casino promotions.  Games will be those categorized as class II under IGRA, such as slot-like bingo, traditional bingo, pull tabs, and poker.  Because the games are class II, no tribal-state compacts will have to be amended.    

 

Using this strategy, TIGA tribes will jump ahead of the online competition and get extremely valuable experience with real-money wagering before other tribes and gaming operations.  The idea for TIGA began among tribes in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan.  TIGA developments are now being followed by 28 tribes in 13 states.

 

Attached you will find: 1) a TIGA Fact Sheet; 2) a media release from the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa; and 3) a copy of the TIGA Treaty. 

 

If you have any questions or would like to have a unique quote, please contact me.  I am an Indian gaming attorney at the law firm of Kanji & Katzen, a former Senior Attorney at the National Indian Gaming Commission and a former Assistant Solicitor at the United States Department of the Interior.  You may reach me by email or at (202) 261-6528.

 
Jeffrey Nelson, Counsel
Kanji & Katzen, PLLC
1250 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC  20036
Office:   (202) 261-6528
Mobile: (202) 746-6149

Mille Lacs Band Wins $5.6M Judgment against Money Centers of America

Here are the materials in Corporate Commission of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians v. Money Centers of America (D. Minn.):

141 MCA Motion to Dismiss

155 Baena Advisors Motion to Dismiss

160 Real Estate Empowered Motion to Dismiss

169 Mille Lacs Motion for Summary J

170 Mille Lacs Exhibits

172 MCA Motion for Summary J

180 Mille Lacs Opposition to 160

181 Mille Lacs Opposition to MCA Motions

182 MCA Opposition to Mille Lacs Motion

184 Mille Lacs Reply

185 MCA Reply in Support of Motion to Dismiss

186 MCA Reply in Support of Motion for Summary J

187 Reply in Support of 160

199 Melanie Banjamin Motion to Quash

205 MCA Opposition to Motion to Quash

211 MJ Order Granting Motion to Quash

240 DCT Order re Motion to Dismiss

239 DCT Order re Summary J

241 MJ Order re Motion to Compel

Prior materials here.

Mashantucket Pequot Second Circuit En Banc Petition (and Amicus Support)

Here are the new materials in Mashantucket Pequot Tribe v. Town of Ledyard (2d Cir.):

MPN En Banc Petition

Amicus Brief in Support of En Banc Petition — Seminole, Umatilla, and Coquille

Panel decision and briefs are here.