The 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals will rehear Big Lagoon Rancheria v. California, an Indian gaming case that's being closely watched throughout Indian Country, next month.
The Big
Lagoon Rancheria accused the state of California of negotiating in bad faith
for a Class III gaming compact. The state responded by attacking the status of
land that was placed in trust for the tribe in 1994.
By a vote of 2-1, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit held that the
tribe could not pursue the casino due to the U.S. Supreme Court decision
in Carcieri
v. Salazar. The 9th Circuit determined that the tribe was not "under federal
jurisdiction" in 1934.
The tribe asked the court to reconsider. The 9th Circuit agreed to
convene an en banc panel of 11 judges to rehear the case.
Tribes across the nation are supporting the Big Lagoon Rancheria. They
fear it will open the doors to even more litigation over trust land acquisitions
that were finalized years, or even decades, ago.
The rehearing will take place at 10am on September 17 in San Francisco, California.
Turtle Talk has posted documents from the case, Big Lagoon Rancheria v. California.
Oral arguments from the original hearing can be found on the Indianz.Com SoundCloud.
Big
Lagoon Rancheria v. California (January 21, 2014)
Related Stories:
Patrick Sullivan:
Indian Country watches Big Lagoon casino suit (06/27)
9th Circuit to
reconsider Big Lagoon Rancheria gaming dispute (06/12)