Supreme Court to hear Gun Lake Tribe gaming land dispute

Tuesday, April 24, 2012  

UPDATE: The Supreme Court has posted the transcript of the oral arguments.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Salazar v. Patchak, a gaming land case, this morning.

David Patchak, a non-Indian, sued the federal government to block a casino for the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, also known as the Gun Lake Tribe. He argued that the tribe, which gained federal recognition in 1999, did not qualify for the land-into-trust process.

Before his case was resolved, the Bureau of Indian Affairs finalized the tribe's land-into-trust application for 147 acres. Three weeks later, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Carcieri v. Salazar, which stated that tribes that weren't "under federal jurisdiction" in 1934 can't follow the land-into-trust process.

But since the Gun lake land was already in trust, a federal judge dismissed Patchak's suit on the grounds of sovereign immunity. On appeal, however, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals revived the case, shortly before the tribe opened the Gun Lake Casino.

The Obama administration and the tribe appealed and the Supreme Court agreed to review the decision. At issue is whether Patchak has standing to challenge the land-into-trust application despite not having a a direct connection to the tribe and whether the Quiet Title Act bars the federal government from a lawsuit for taking land into trust for a tribe.

Oral arguments will last one hour, according to the Supreme Court's hearing list. The transcript will be posted later this afternoon.

Get the Story:
Talk About High Stakes (WKZO 4/24)
Supreme Court Hears Gun Lake Casino Lawsuit Arguments (WHTC 4/24)

DC Circuit Decision:
Patchak v. Salazar (January 21, 2011)

Related Stories:
SCOTUSBlog: Supreme Court to hear gaming land dispute (4/23)