A non-Indian man in Michigan who lives three miles from the casino owned by the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of
Pottawatomi Indians, also known as the Gun Lake Tribe, is trying to keep his long-running lawsuit alive in federal court.
David Patchak went to court after the Bureau of Indian Affairs placed the site of the Gun Lake Casino in trust.
He claims the tribe can't follow the land-into-trust process as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v.
Salazar.
The ruling restricts the land-into-trust process to tribes that were "under federal jurisdiction" in 1934. The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band didn't gain federal recognition until 1999.
Patchak's claim has not been heard on the merits. But, in another decision, the Supreme Court in Salazar v. Patchak said his case could go forward even though the casino site was already in trust.
That's when Congress stepped in with S.1603, the Gun Lake Trust Land Reaffirmation Act. The new law confirms that the casino site is in trust and calls for Patchak's lawsuit to be dismissed.
Patchak -- who has admitted he wants a monetary settlement from the tribe -- isn't going away quietly though. In new court filings, his attorneys say the Gun Lake Trust Land Reaffirmation Act is illegal.
"The punitive nature of the bill, combined with the act’s undisputed specificity, renders the Gun Lake Act an unlawful bill of attainder and it should be held unconstitutional as applied to Mr. Patchak and on its face," the attorneys said in a October 31 motion.
The federal government and the tribe submitted responses in defense of the new law on December 4. Judge Richard J. Leon, who has criticized Patchak for the way he's pursued the case, has not issued a decision.
In the meantime, the BIA has placed two more sites in trust for the tribe. One parcel is adjacent to the casino but a spokesperson said there are currently no plans for its use.
The BIA also placed a 176-acre parcel known as Jijak Camp and the tribe's original 33-acre settlement in trust.
Get the Story:
Gun Lake Tribe acquires more land
(WOOD 12/9)
Related Stories:
Gun Lake Tribe surpasses $60M mark in
shared gaming revenues (12/9)
Gun Lake Tribe
awaits court action in long-running gaming case (10/06)