Editorial: Tohono O'odham Nation casino is looking more likely

Success for the Tohono O'odhams' plan to build a Valley casino is looking more likely. Not a lock, certainly. There are legal battles yet to run their course in federal courts. And, conceivably, an act of Congress could halt the tribe's gambit in its tracks.

But, viewed realistically, the tribe is about to start construction on its planned casino-hotel near Glendale. It may not require any further permission from anyone. To do anything.

A U.S. Supreme Court decision in May regarding tribal sovereign immunity appears to have dashed the hopes of other tribes that they could prove the Tohono O'odham leaders committed fraud in their years-long plan to break into the lucrative Phoenix-area gaming market.

Still pending is a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision on whether the tribe's project violates the letter (as opposed to the mere spirit) of the 2002 voter-approved gaming compacts.

The most effective backstop against the casino would be an act of Congress forbidding additional casinos in the Phoenix area. Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake recently introduced just such a bill, and similar legislation enjoys bipartisan support in the House. But we all know the track record in Washington, D.C., of even the most popular legislation. The obstacles are many.