Indian tribe files lawsuit challenging state’s power

Robert Imrie

Friday, May 11, 2001 | 11:10 a.m.

Three Chippewa Indian bands that want to open a casino at a financially troubled greyhound race track in western Wisconsin filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging the governor's power to block the project.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., claims a 1988 federal law that gives state governors the power to veto off-reservation Indian casinos is unconstitutional, said Bob Friebert, an attorney for the tribes.

"This lawsuit demonstrates that the three tribes are going to continue their fight to obtain the advantages of gaming that other tribes have had in order to help their members get out of poverty," Friebert said.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the Lac Courte Oreilles, Red Cliff and Mole Lake bands of Lake Superior Chippewa.

Among the defendants is the U.S. Interior Department, which is responsible for enforcing the U.S. Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

In February the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs agreed to place into federal trust 55 acres of land at the St. Croix Meadows greyhound racing track for a casino operated by the tribes. The agency said a casino there would be in the best interest of the tribes without harming the surrounding community.

The deal must get the approval of Gov. Scott McCallum, who has opposed expansion of gambling operations in the state.

"It makes sense to have the governor have the authority over issues which affect the public in a state," McCallum said Thursday.

A call to the Interior Department was not immediately returned Thursday.

The government approvals are needed for the Hudson casino because it would not be on a tribal reservation.

The three tribes have gone to court before over the project and been successful.

The BIA's decision earlier this year reversed a 1995 ruling by the agency that led to a lawsuit and an out-of-court agreement to review the tribes' casino application.

In its lawsuit filed Thursday, the tribes contend Congress cannot delegate certain obligations regarding tribes that are the federal government's responsibility to governors "who are often adverse to the interests of Indian tribes for political reasons."

The lawsuit also argues the federal gaming law violates due process by failing to give tribes any way to appeal decisions by governors.

"No governor should have this kind of authority," Friebert said.

The Chippewa bands proposed the Hudson casino in 1994 in a joint partnership with the Florida owners of the dog track, which is near the Twin Cities.

The bands operate casinos on their reservations, which are in rural areas.

Friebert said an Oregon tribe challenged the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act five years ago on similar grounds, and a federal judge ruled it was unconstitutional. The decision later was overturned on appeal.

The new lawsuit by the Wisconsin Chippewa bands "is a broader-based challenge than that one," he said.

The Chippewa bands offered to pay $72 million to $80 million over eight years to local governments for their support of the casino, a tribal leader said.