The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of
Pottawatomi Indians, also known as the Gun Lake Tribe, celebrated when S.1603,
the Gun Lake Trust Land Reaffirmation Act, became
law on September 26.
The law confirms the trust status of the Gun Lake Casino and shields the facility from an ongoing lawsuit.
But a law professor doesn't think the non-Indian plaintiff who filed the case will go away quietly.
“[T]he argument here would have to be that the legislation essentially punishes Mr. Patchak," Christopher Hastings, a professor at Cooley Law School, told The Grand Rapids Business Journal, referring to David Patchak.
Patchak lives about three miles from the casino and wants some form of monetary settlement from the tribe or the federal government, according to his attorney.
Get the Story:
Gun Lake Casino lawsuit may not be over
(The Grand Rapids Business Journal 10/4)
$P House Debate on S.1603,
the Gun Lake Trust Land Reaffirmation Act:
Salazar
v. Patchak | Carcieri
v. Salazar
Supreme Court Oral Argument in Salazar
v. Patchak:
Attorney claims case against Gun Lake
Tribe's casino still alive (10/2)