off-reservation gaming – Page 11

Erik Jensen on Gaming on Newly-Acquired Indian Lands

July 27, 2008Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Erik Jensen has published “Indian Gaming on Newly Acquired Lands” in the Washburn Law Journal, and it is available on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

This symposium article examines the meaning of the term “Indian lands” – the lands that might become sites for Indian gaming-in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. At its core, the term is unambiguous: it includes reservations and other lands that, at the time of IGRA’s enactment, were held in trust by the United States for the benefit of American Indian nations. But “Indian lands” can include much more. Indeed, it is possible for real estate having only the most tenuous historical connections with a tribe (perhaps having no connections at all) to become “Indian lands.” The treatment of so-called “newly acquired lands” has potentially far-reaching economic consequences for American Indian nations, but also for non-Indian populations, which can share in the benefits of tribal economic development. Along the way, the article discusses the basics of IGRA, recent developments affecting newly acquired lands, and whether an expansive conception of “Indian lands” is a good thing.

Update in CECGAC v. Hogen Case re: Seneca Gaming Case

July 23, 2008Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The plaintiff, CECGAC, have moved to enforce the judgment rendered earlier this month regarding the Buffalo parcel where the Seneca Nation of Indians have been operating a casino. The United States has moved to remand the case back the National Indian Gaming Commission to reconsider the parcel in light of the new Section 20 regulations [25 CFR Part 292], and the Senecas have filed an amicus brief in support.

cegcac-motion-to-enforce-judgment

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Muskegon County in Support of LRB Casino Proposal

July 18, 2008July 18, 2008Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indianz:

The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians is seeing support for its off-reservation casino in Muskegon, Michigan.

The board of commissioners in Muskegon County passed a resolution in support of the project. The tribe said local approval is one step in the long process for the casino. The tribe purchased the former Great Lakes Downs and plans a $100 million casino.

Get the Story:
Muskegon County bets on casino at former track (Press News Service 7/18 )

LRB Purchases Great Lakes Downs

July 17, 2008Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indianz:

The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians purchased a defunct racetrack in Michigan for an undisclosed price.

The tribe wants to open a casino at the site near Muskegon. But official said there is no timetable for development. The tribe operates a casino on its reservation, about 80 miles away. The tribe has a branch office in Muskegon. Another Michigan tribe, the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, has expressed interested in a casino in Muskegon.

Get the Story:
Little River tribe buys Great Lakes Downs with hopes of opening casino (The Muskegon Chronicle 7/17)
Muskegon casino could face same opposition Gun Lake tribe encountered in Wayland Township (The Grand Rapids Press 7/17)
Tribal group wants casino at Great Lakes Downs (WOOD 7/16)
Magna sells Great Lakes Downs (The Thoroughbred Times 7/16)

Rand, Meister, and Light on the “Guidance”

July 16, 2008Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Kathryn Rand, Alan Meister, and Steven Light have published “Questionable Federal ‘Guidance’ on Off-Reservation Indian Gaming: Legal and Economic Issues” in the Gaming Law Review. Here is a snippet:

In January 2008, Carl Artman, the assistant secretary for Indian affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior, issued a memorandum titled, “Guidance on taking off-reservation land into trust for gaming purposes.” The guidance memo signaled a significant change in the department’s position on Indian gaming on newly acquired trust lands or “off-reservation” gaming, a change that had been brewing for more than four years.

The memo also garnered the immediate attention of Congress. In February 2008, the House Committee on Natural Resources held an oversight hearing on the memo for the purpose of examining “how the new Guidance was developed, whether it was lawfully enacted, the ramifications of the new requirements on all off-reservation fee to trust applications, and whether this signifies an attempt by the Administration to change Federal policy towards Indian tribes.” As Committee Chair Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) stated, “The potential change to the Federal policy towards Indian tribes is disturbing …. [W]e have to question if this Administration is advocating a policy to keep Indians on the reservation.”

Several legal and economic questions are raised by the guidance memo. This article is by no means intended to be the last word on the memo’s legality, nor on the wisdom of its requirements from legal, public policy, or economic perspectives. It is, however, meant to question the memo’s procedural genesis and substantive “guidance.”

Freep on BMIC and Sault Tribe Gaming Bills

June 23, 2008Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Detroit Free Press:

A fight over proposed American Indian casinos in Romulus and Port Huron may reach the floor of Congress this week, where two Michigan political heavyweights find themselves on opposite sides of the issue.

The proposals — which could be on the floor as early as Wednesday — have a fair shot at passing, despite loud objections from Detroit politicians who fear new casinos could cut into the take of the city’s three gaming emporiums and undercut investments their owners have made.

Even if the House approves, however, the proposals face a big obstacle in the Senate — Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who is said to be opposed to the legislation that has been simmering in Washington for at least six years.

The difference now is the strong support for the Romulus casino from Rep. John Dingell, a Dearborn Democrat who is the longest-serving active member of the House and chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee.

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BMIC & Sault Tribe Gaming Bill Heads to House Floor

June 21, 2008Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Never mind the Senate, this one’s going to be ugly. I wonder how many times Abramoff’s name gets mentioned. Here’s the report from The Hill:

House Democratic leaders have brokered a deal to bring to the floor next week a contentious Indian gaming bill that has pitted two powerful Democratic committee chairmen against one another.

For months, Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) have been clashing over two bills that would settle tribal land disputes and allow two new Indian casinos to be built near Detroit. Next week, they will settle their differences on the House floor.

The deal would allow the two tribal land dispute bills that Dingell supports to be voted on on the floor, but would also give Conyers an amendment, according to sources tracking the measures. The amendment apparently would direct the Department of Justice (DoJ) and possibly the Department of the Interior to review the land claims — a difficult and likely unsuccessful process Dingell and other supporters have attempted to avoid by seeking congressional approval of the legislation.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democratic leaders are in a politically difficult spot.

They have decided to allot precious floor time for measures that will pave the way for Indian casinos during the first election year after the fall of Jack Abramoff, whose lobbying practices involving tribes and gambling helped propel Democrats into power in 2006.

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News Coverage of BMIC/Sault Tribe Off-Rez Gaming Bills

April 2, 2008Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Detroit Free Press:

WASHINGTON – The House Judiciary Committee is set to work on a couple of bills on Wednesday that would allow for two new Indian casinos in Michigan – even though another committee has already approved them.

It could set up an interesting jurisdictional question for the House.
A couple months ago, the Natural Resources Committee voted overwhelmingly in favor of the two pieces of legislation, which would authorize land swaps with two tribes, resulting in new casinos in Romulus and Port Huron. That vote was expected to send the bills to the House floor.

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Clash of Titans over Off-Rez Gaming in Michigan: Dingell v. Conyers!

March 26, 2008Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From The Hill:

Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) is clashing with Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) over the thorny issue of Indian gambling, setting up a standoff between two of the oldest bulls in Congress.

Conyers has stepped into an Indian gambling dispute that is dividing the Michigan delegation and the Democratic Caucus. After teaming up with Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich.), who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), the 22-term House veteran has used his position as chairman of the powerful Judiciary Committee to oppose two bills that would settle tribal land disputes and clear the way for new casinos to be built near both lawmakers’ Detroit-area districts.

Conyers argues that the bills would change the way casinos are approved by allowing Congress to get involved in land dispute claims that the U.S. Department of the Interior routinely determines. He also cites the concern that the casinos would be located more than 350 miles from the tribes’ reservations.

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