\nBy STEVE LeBLANC \/ Associated Press \/ December 2, 2013<\/p>\n
\tBOSTON (AP) \u2014 Gov. Deval Patrick has filed a lawsuit aimed at blocking the Martha\u2019s Vineyard-based Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe from opening a small casino on the island.<\/p>\n
\tPatrick on Monday filed a lawsuit with the state Supreme Judicial Court arguing that the Aquinnah ceded gambling rights in a 1983 settlement that secured tribal lands on the island.<\/p>\n
\tThe tribe has disputed that interpretation of the agreement.<\/p>\n
\tTribal leaders last month said they had gained federal approval to build a gambling facility that could offer high-stakes electronic bingo or poker games and some types of slot machines, but not casino-style table games.<\/p>\n
\tThe tribe said it planned to move ahead with converting an unfinished community center on the island into a temporary \u2018\u2018Class II\u2019\u2019 gambling facility.<\/p>\n
\tAn attorney for the tribe said the governor called them earlier Monday to let them know he was filing the suit and that tribal leaders were still reviewing the document.<\/p>\n
\tIn the lawsuit, the Patrick administration argues that 1983 agreement bars the tribe, just at it would any other entity, from establishing a casino without a gambling license issued under state law.<\/p>\n
\tUnder the 2011 casino law signed by Patrick, only the newly-created Massachusetts Gaming Commission has the authority to issue the three casino and single slot parlor licenses envisioned by the law.<\/p>\n
\tThe Aquinnah facility would not fall under the jurisdiction of that law.<\/p>\n
\t\u2018\u2018Because the Aquinnah Tribe does not have a gaming license issued by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, the Tribe may not operate a gaming establishment on its lands,\u2019\u2019 the lawsuit says.<\/p>\n
\tThe efforts to open a casino amounts to a breach of contract, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
\tThe Aquinnah Tribe, however, has cited a legal opinion, dated Oct. 25, from Eric Shepard, the acting general counsel of the National Indian Gaming Commission.<\/p>\n
\tIn the letter, Shepard said the tribe\u2019s lands on Martha\u2019s Vineyard qualify for limited gambling under the federal law that governs tribal gaming and that the Aquinnah have sufficient legal jurisdiction over the lands.<\/p>\n
\tLeaders of a second tribe \u2014 the Mashpee Wampanoag (WAHM’-pah-nahg) tribe on Cape Cod \u2014 are also hoping to open a casino, in southeastern Massachusetts.<\/p>\n
\tPatrick recently signed a revised casino compact with the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe which tribal leaders hope will win approval from the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, which rejected an earlier agreement reached with the state.<\/p>\n
\tMartha\u2019s Vineyard, an island just south of Cape Cod that is accessible by ferry, is a popular summer tourist destination. President Barack Obama and his family have vacationed several times on the island, as did President Bill Clinton when he was in office.<\/p>\n
\tCheryl Andrews-Maltais, tribal chairwoman, has said the Aquinnah Tribe feels a responsibility to protect the beauty of Martha\u2019s Vineyard. She said the gambling facility would blend in with the island and have an overall positive economic impact.<\/p>\n
\t\u2018\u2018What we\u2019re looking to be is another entertainment venue for people who come to the island for their regular vacations,\u2019\u2019 Andrews-Maltais said last month when the tribe unveiled its plans.<\/p>\n
\tThe tribe has also said it would ask Gov. Deval Patrick\u2019s administration to begin negotiations on a state compact that would allow the tribe to someday open a much larger Class III resort casino, either on the island or on lands taken into trust on the mainland.<\/p>\n
No replies were posted for this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By STEVE LeBLANC \/ Associated Press \/ December 2, 2013 BOSTON (AP) \u2014 Gov. Deval Patrick has filed a lawsuit aimed at blocking the Martha\u2019s Vineyard-based Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe from opening a small casino on the island. Patrick on Monday…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6606\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}