Judge orders casino to close

Wednesday, June 26, 2002 | 11:09 a.m.

LUFKIN, Texas -- The Alabama-Coushatta Indian tribe must close its casino near Livingston within 30 days, U.S. District Judge John Hannah Jr. ruled Tuesday.

Hannah said the casino is illegal under the Native American Restoration Act of 1987, under which the tribe agreed that in return for federal recognition it would not sponsor any gambling activities that were otherwise illegal in the state of Texas.

"This decision is wrong," tribal Chairman Kevin Battise said. The tribe's reservation is in Polk County, about 75 miles northeast of Houston, on a tract of about seven square miles.

"This decision means that Texans can spend billions on the Texas state lottery, but that they can't spend a dime at our tribal gaming enterprise," Battise said.

"This decision means that Texans can gamble across state lines, but that they cannot gamble on our sovereign, federal Indian reservation ... This decision means that in Texas, even in the new millennium, Native Americans are still not a part of the American dream."

The tribe's attorney, Scott Crowell, said he will ask Hannah to reconsider, and that if that doesn't work, the tribe will take its case to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In a trial in April the Alabama-Coushatta tribe argued that it should be allowed to operate its casino because Texas had approved a lottery since the treaty was agreed to.

Hannah sided with Texas Attorney General John Cornyn, who sought to shutter the casino. Hannah also declared the casino, which opened in November, to be "a common and public nuisance," as defined by state law.