Here is the brief (courtesy of Indianz) — ussg-opposition
United States Files Brief in Opposition to MichGO Cert Petition
Here is the brief (courtesy of Indianz) — ussg-opposition
Pottawatomi
Gun Lake Band’s Opposition to MichGO’s Cert Petition
Is here — gun-lake-band-cert-opposition
MichGO’s cert petition is here, as are links to the lower court materials.
MichGO v. Kempthorne Cert Petition
Here is is: michgo-cert-pet-10-23-08
The questions presented are two-fold. First, the petitioners raise the nondelegation doctrine argument that caused Judge Rogers Brown in the D.C. Circuit to dissent below. And second, the petitioners make the same argument about recently recognized tribes that the Supreme Court will decide in Carcieri v. Kempthorne.
See our earlier posts here and here and here and here and a link to an Indian Country Today article about MichGO.
The interesting question here will be whether the government will file a response at all, given that there’s no circuit split (by MichGO’s admission), that the SCT already denied cert on the first issue in the Carcieri litigation, and that the second issue will be decided by Carcieri.
GR Press Editorial Against IGRA
The editors complain about everything, and then assert whole states and localities should be allowed to vote on whether Indian gaming can come to the community. But the first two comments on the website have powerful responses.
Supreme Court Declines to Lift Gun Lake Stay
From TV:
ALLEGAN COUNTY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has dealt a blow to the West Michigan tribe trying to build a casino near Wayland.
Justice John Roberts has denied the tribe’s request to vacate a stay issued by a Washington DC circuit court. That court said that the tribe would have to wait until after the Supreme Court hears the latest challenge from the anti-gambling group MichGO.
Many speculate that Roberts’ decision is an indication that the court will hear that challenge, but that may not happen until sometime in 2009. So, for now, the Gun Lake Tribe has to wait and cannot start construction on the casino in Allegan County.
“Many speculate?” Since there has not even been a cert petition filed yet, I don’t see any reason to speculate on anything yet.
Gun Lake Band Moves to Vacate Stay
The Gun Lake Band has filed an application to Chief Justice Roberts to vacate the stay issued by the D.C. Circuit preventing the Secretary from taking its Shelbyville, Michigan parcel into trust for gaming purposes. Here is the docket sheet so far.
BIA Repairs Roads in Wayland Township
from the Kalamazoo Gazette:
WAYLAND TOWNSHIP — Motorists who are enjoying smooth rides on a section of Sixth Street in Wayland Township can thank the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, which helped fund the repaving of the road.
Monte Davis, an environmental specialist for the Gun Lake Band of Potawatomi Indians, said Sixth Street between 126th and 129th avenues was repaved between July 23 and 25. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held there July 28.
Of the project’s $308,000 cost, the township is paying $108,000 and the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Indian Reservation Roads Program is paying $200,000.
Davis said the Gun Lake Band joined the program in 2006. He said he learned in June 2007 that the funding for the Sixth Street project was coming.
“We’re very happy for the tribe, the township and the county. The road was one of the worst roads in Allegan County,” Davis said.
The Allegan County Road Commission’s managing director, William Nelson, said the funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs is the first contribution for roads that the county will receive from the agency.
MichGO v. Kempthorne — Stay Issued
From the AP:
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court has issued a stay preventing a proposed tribal casino in Allegan County from moving forward.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the order Friday pending a potential review from the U.S. Supreme Court. Opponents of the casino have asked the Supreme Court to hear the case.
The Gun Lake tribe wants to build a $200 million casino in Allegan County’s Wayland Township. A group called Michigan Gambling Opposition has spent years trying to stop the casino from being built.
The appeals court sided with the tribe earlier this year, upholding a decision by the federal government to set aside 147 acres of land where the casino would be built near Grand Rapids.
ICT on MichGO’s Ongoing Legal Wrangling
From ICT:
WAYLAND COUNTY, Mich. – In an effort to take advantage of every possible opportunity to delay the Gun Lake Tribe’s casino, the anti-Indian casino group Michigan Gambling Opposition – MichGO – has asked a court to stop all further action while the group files a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court.
MichGO’s latest tactic followed a July 25 ruling by the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denying the group’s request for a full panel, or en banc, rehearing of the court’s 2 – 1 decision in April upholding a district court decision to allow the Interior Department to take 147 acres of land into trust for the tribe’s proposed $200 million casino.
D.C. Circuit Denies Petition for Rehearing in MichGo v. Kempthorne
Here is the order — michgo-rehearing-denial
Three judges (Sentelle, Griffith, and Rogers) voted to rehear the case en banc, three short of the necessary votes. Of course, that semi-near miss gives the attorneys for MichGO fodder for making noise about a cert petition (see news report here).
I really have to think that this case is getting so much attention — not because of the merits of the case — but because these same lawyers have been working on three cases so far (TOMAC, CETAC, and now MichGO) and this is finally the end. It bears repeating that these three cases were all carbon-copy cases, with little to differentiate them at all. They have almost no merit whatsoever, and even the D.C. Circuit all but labeled them frivolous in the CETAC opinion. The Gun Lake case is no different than the previous cases, except it is the last one.
Turtle Talk 
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