"I would never predict, based on oral arguments, how the state Supreme Court will rule.

But I'll be astonished if the three judges sitting yesterday tell the Rhode Island House that a referendum bill it's eyeing for a Narragansett Indian/Harrah's casino in West Warwick passes muster.

Last summer the court put the kibosh on a casino bill the House and Senate enacted over Governor Carcieri's veto. It said the bill failed to meet a constitutional requirement that lotteries be state-run. Casino promoters have offered a new bill to solve that, but nevertheless Chief Justice Frank Williams and Justices Paul Suttell and William Robinson yesterday sounded, for the most part, deeply skeptical."

Get the Story:
M. Charles Bakst: At high court, don't bet on a casino (The Providence Journal 8/16)
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