Grand Rapids Area Casino Clears Another Hurdle

Opponents of the Gun Lake Casino filed a motion July 29 in the U.S. Court of Appeals to delay the federal government’s decision to place 147 acres of land into trust for a Native American tribe.

Anti-casino group Michigan Gambling Opposition’s motion, called a stay, is crucial to the legal effort to prevent the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, now commonly referred to as the Gun Lake tribe, from gaining sovereign land. The tribe plans to build a multimillion-dollar casino near Bradley.

If they stay is granted, it will prevent the land from being placed into trust, giving MichGO a chance to take the fight to the U.S. Supreme Court. It is similar to the order granted after MichGO lost its case in U.S. Circuit Court in 2007.

The tribe and the U.S. Department of Justice both filed briefs opposing the stay on Aug. 1.

Lawyers for the tribe reason that MichGO cannot meet the criteria the Supreme Court requires to hear the case.

Tribal spokesman James Nye said, “MichGO is using the identical arguments that have already been rejected in three incidences by the courts in separate cases.”


Nye said the court had refused to hear two other similar cases in 2006. He also said the high court had refused in February to hear a case from Rhode Island that used, in part, the same legal argument MichGO is using in its planned petition to the high court.

Specifically, the Supreme Court did not grant review of a part of the Carcieri v Kempthorne case, a question that deals with the constitutionality of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 and whether it delegates legislative authority.

MichGO argues, as did the Rhode Island governor in the Carcieri case, that the U.S. government does not have the authority to place land into trust. The Supreme Court refused to hear that part of the case.

In its recent decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals panel likewise disagreed with MichGO’s assessment, saying in its decision that “we hold that ... section 5 of the IRA is not an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority.”

The decision was 2-1, however, and MichGO lawyer John Bursch said the dissenting opinion has given the group hope that the high court will decide to hear the case.

For more information, please see Bill Brown Court denies MichGO’s appeal , The Allegan County News, August 6, 2008.