Law professor calls tribal casino in Ohio unlikely

Monday, October 20, 2008  

A law professor says it's "incredibly unlikely" that a tribe will ever gain approval to open a casino in Ohio.

The Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma has submitted two land-into-trust applications for a potential casino in Ohio. But Blake Watson of the University of Dayton School of Law says the process requires a lot of hurdles to complete.

"[T]he tribe would have to persuade the federal government to take the land in to trust; persuade the secretary of the interior that gambling on such lands would be in the best interest of the Indian tribe; persuade the secretary of the interior that gambling on such lands would not be detrimental to the surrounding community; and persuade the governor of Ohio to affirmatively concur with the secretary’s determination that tribal gambling should be permitted," Watson said in a updated version of a paper he wrote in 2003.

As a result, Watson says the tribe's plans won't have an impact on Issue 6, a ballot initiative that would authorize a casino in Ohio. Casino backers -- a group called My Ohio Now and Lakes Entertainment -- are citing Watson in hopes of refuting opponents who fear tribal gaming will become an issue if gaming is legalized in the state.

Get the Story:
Issue 6: impact on tribal gaming doubtful (The Delphos Herald 10/18)