October 12, 2007

Get a casino, give up sovereignty

Tribe must choose:  casino OR sovereignty

The new Magic Bullet:  A mortal wound to tribal advantageGovernor Deval Patrick has unveiled his casino legislation, "AN ACT ESTABLISHING AND REGULATING RESORT CASINOS IN MASSACHUSETTS."

On page 45 the bill says, "No casino license shall issue to an applicant who is a federally recognized Native American tribe located in the Commonwealth or an applicant who is partnered with a federally recognized Native American tribe located in the Commonwealth unless the Native American tribe has entered into a contractual agreement with the Commonwealth in which the Native American tribe agrees to waive any and all of its rights under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 25 U.S.C sections 2701 et seq., and be subject to the civil and criminal laws, statutes, ordinances, and jurisdiction of the Commonwealth with respect to all activities relating to the development and operation of the resort casino and the applicable rules and regulations prescribed by the authority."

4 comments:

writerfella said...

Writerflla here --
That law won't pass Constitutional muster, fortunately, as superior Federal law requires that state legislatures (read: the governor) MUST negotiate fairly with Native tribes on casino matters. No state can decide 'sovereignty matters' as such sovereignty never was granted under law by states. Makes for interesting reading, though, doesn't it? Guess lawyers might have missed school on the day they taught Federal law?
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

Rob said...

If the law passed in that form, I tend to agree. It would raise substantial constitutional questions and it might get struck down.

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
Great Cooga Mooga! Satan just ran out of heating oil!
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

Rob said...

If you're implying I never post anything anti-casino, you're sadly mistaken. I guess you've forgotten the items on the unsightly casino sign, the people evicted to build a casino, or the casino proposed for a sacred site (to give three examples).