The United States petitioned for cert in the ongoing Navajo Nation case over the Peabody Coal debacle. The Supreme Court held in 2003 that the Indian Mineral Leasing Act did not create a duty, but the Federal Circuit on remand resurrected the claim. Once again, the claim may give rise to $600 million in damages to the United States.

us-v-navajo-cert-petition

The lower court materials (briefs and opinions) are here.

In addition to the conference, they are hoping to honor four people who have worked positively for Indian gaming over the past 20 years. More details on that aspect below the conference information.

Indian Country’s Winning Hand: 20 Years of the IGRA (Indian Gaming Regulatory Act) CLE Conference

October 16-17, 2008

Radisson Fort McDowell Resort & Casino in Scottsdale/Fountain Hills, AZ

A balanced twenty-year retrospective of the successes, failures and impact of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. This commemorative conference will examine the history and the impact of the IGRA and the Indian gaming industry through the eyes of tribal leaders, scholars and those who were there when the IGRA became law. Sponsored by the NCAI, NIGA, Arizona and New Mexico Indian Gaming Assns, CNIGA, American Indian Law Center, Inc., the Native Nations Law & Policy Center at UCLA, and the Indian Legal Program and American Indian Policy Institute at Arizona State University.

In honor of the 20th anniversary of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), a commemorative conference entitled: “Indian Country’s Winning Hand: 20 Years of IGRA” and a Pathbreakers Banquet will be held at the Radisson Fort McDowell Resort & Casino in Scottsdale/Fountain Hills, Arizona on October 16-17, 2008. The Pathbreakers Banquet, on the evening of Thursday, October 16, 2008, will recognize and honor the outstanding contributions and achievements of four individuals whose work has positively impacted Indian gaming over the last twenty years.

If you know someone who you would like to nominate to be honored, please visit the conference website at http://ilp.law.asu.edu/banquets.html and complete a Pathbreakers nomination form. We welcome all nominations of individuals. Nomination deadline is June 15, 2008. Please Spread The Word to your colleagues and join us to honor the Indian Country’s Pathbreakers.

Visit http://www.law.asu.edu/ILP for complete conference information online

Website: ILP.law.asu.edu
Contact: Darlene Lester

Phone: 480-965-7715

Email: darlene.lester@asu.edu

Ho-Chunk Nation has filed a cert petition in its dispute over revenue sharing with the State of Wisconsin.

Here is the petition — hcn-cert-petition

Here is the docket site — No. 07-1402.

Here are the rest of the materials — CA7 opinion and some briefs — rest of the materials.

Registration for the ILPC’s 5th Annual Indigenous Law Conference, Forty Years of the Indian Civil Rights Act, is now available online here.

SCOTUSBlog isn’t taking any chances with Indian law now.

The Kickapoo v. Texas petition is on its watch list for the May 29, 2008 conference (here).

Docket: 07-1109
Case name: Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas v. Texas, et al.
Issue: Whether, following Seminole Tribe v. Florida (1996), the Secretary of the Interior may establish procedures for Indian gaming if a state declines to enter a compact with the Tribe and invokes immunity from suit under the 11th Amendment.

• Opinion below (5th Circuit)
• Petition for certiorari
• Brief in opposition (Federal respondent)
• Petitioner’s reply
• Amicus brief of Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, et al. (in support of the petitioner)

From the AP:

TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama believes Congress should let the judicial system do its work before getting involved in a dispute over Cherokee citizenship.

Obama says an injunction is in place protecting the rights of Cherokee freedmen, and Congress should not undermine the legal process.

Cherokee citizens voted last year to take away the tribal citizenship of the freedmen, who are descendants of slaves formerly owned by the tribe.

Lawsuits over the matter are pending in federal and tribal court.

Obama says federal intervention in internal matters of Indian tribes is rarely productive, and Congress should let the Cherokees decide the matter.

From Indianz:

The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians is facing pressure to make sure its commercial casino in Detroit complies with state law.

The tribe has fallen behind on construction of a permanent Greektown Casino. Revenues have dropped and the facility’s debt-to-earnings ratio isn’t meeting state requirements. In hopes of resolving the issue, the tribe last week announced that it landed a $100 million investment. The tribe would retain 60 percent ownership of the casino. But the Michigan Gaming Control Board is questioning whether the deal will resolve the tribe’s financial concerns. The board gave the tribe until June 10 to defend its future.

Get the Story:
Greektown Casino financing questioned (The Detroit News 5/14)

Belanger v. Parish Complaint

Exhibit Property Location Drawing

From the AP:

DETROIT (AP) — If smoking is banned in Detroit bars, restaurants and workplaces, Betty Gilbert says it will hurt the city’s casinos.

Gilbert, who was smoking a cigarette Friday with members of her bowling team on a sidewalk near Greektown Casino downtown, should know. The 69-year-old from Cape May County, N.J. — who said she usually gambles weekly in Atlantic City — plans to cut back when that city’s smoking law goes into effect.

“If they cut out the smoking, they should also cut out the drinking,” Gilbert said.

A ban passed by the Michigan Senate on Thursday now heads to the House, which passed a narrower bill five months ago. If the new bill becomes law, smokers could pass up the trip downtown to gamble and head instead to Indian casinos, which aren’t affected, industry observers said.

But 37-year-old Yolanda Horne, who stays away from Detroit’s casinos because the smoke inside is too much for her asthma, said she would reconsider if they went smoke-free.

“I think it’s excellent,” Horne, of Detroit, said of the anti-smoking legislation.

More than 30 states now outlaw smoking in public or workplaces, according to supporters of the ban, though some of the laws don’t apply to restaurants and bars, while others make exceptions for casinos. Atlantic City’s ban, which goes into effect Oct. 15, gives casinos the option to build enclosed, ventilated smoking lounges away from table games and slot machines.

Smoking bans in other states have had negative impacts on casinos, said spokeswoman Jacci Woods at MotorCity Casino.

“We’re not in favor of the smoking ban,” Woods said. “We are very concerned it will create an unlevel playing field in regard to the tribal casinos.”

Casino analyst Jake Miklojcik, president of Michigan Consultants, said there will be an “impact,” but it’s not clear how big.

Someone who lives in Detroit might not make the 150-mile drive north to Mount Pleasant to the Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribe’s Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort just to smoke, Miklojcik said. But smokers who live in Detroit’s northern suburbs might be swayed.

Across the Detroit River at Caesars Windsor, Ontario’s 2006 smoking ban has been blamed in part for a slowdown that led to job cuts. And a spokeswoman there cheered the Detroit proposal, saying it would put her casino back on similar footing to Detroit’s.

“In any competitive market, it’s always advantageous to have more of a level playing field, and it looks like this is what the legislation will do,” Holly Ward, spokeswoman for the Windsor casino.

James Nye, spokesman for the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, also known as the Gun Lake tribe, said Michigan’s 18 tribal casinos are too far away to draw Detroit gamblers in big numbers. The tribe has been working for a decade to develop a casino in Allegan County near Grand Rapids.

MGM Grand Detroit said no one was available Friday to comment on the proposal. And a Greektown Casino spokesman did not return a telephone message seeking comment on Friday.

The bill now goes back to the House, which five months ago passed a similar bill that would have exempted casinos, bingo halls, horse tracks, cigar bars and smoke shops — provisions the Senate stripped in favor of banning smoking in all workplaces.

The House could send the bill as early as next week to Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who supports the broader ban.

Here are the briefs (Indianz coverage here):

hri-opening-brief

state-of-new-mexico-amicus-brief

epa-brief

navajo-nation-brief

hri-reply-brief

state-of-new-mexico-amicus-reply-brief-unfiled