SAN DIEGO - The Jamul tribe's plan to build a large casino 20 miles east of
downtown San Diego became more complicated last month with a U.S.
Supreme Court ruling that bars the Secretary of the Interior Department from
taking tribal land into federal trust for tribes that were federally recognized
after 1934. The transfer of land into federal trust grants tribal sovereignty
and permission to gaming.
Jamul Indians owned 6 acres which have already been transferred into federal
trust. However, the tribe did not appear on federal lists in 1934, when the
Indian Reorganization Act passed. Instead, the tribe was recognized through
their ratification of a tribal constitution approved by the department in July
1981. The following year the Interior secretary included Jamul on the master
list of federally recognized tribes. Then the tribe's 6-acre reservation was
taken into federal trust in two separate actions finalized in 1978 and 1982.
Jamul Indian Village Chairman Kenneth Meza compared the Supreme Court’s decision
to the federal government's history of broken treaties with Indian tribes.
“It was a terrible decision,” he said. “It sets us back 100 years.” But
Meza believes the ruling will not end of the tribe's reservation or its plans
for a casino.
Indian law expert Kathryn Rand said, “Those questions might ultimately be
decided in favor of the tribe, but . . . they are dependent upon the particular
circumstances surrounding the tribe's recognition and the land taken into
trust.”
Matthew Fletcher, a law professor and director of the Indigenous Law & Policy
Center at Michigan State University, agrees that Jamul's land taken into trust
appear secures, despite the decision. He cites the federal Quiet Title Act which
provides a six-year statute of limitations for such legal challenges.
In addition to impact of the Supreme Court ruling, the financial backer, Lakes
Entertainment, says the casino project will be delayed at least five years
because of financial concerns and a lawsuit over access to the casino site.
500 Nations is an independent directory service not affiliated with any casino.
Online Gambling: There are hundreds of jurisdictions in the world with Internet access and hundreds of games and gambling opportunities available on the Internet. Check your local laws and regulations prior to gambling. It is your responsibility to determine if it is legal for you to play any particular games or place any particular wager. In the United State there are 13 states with laws regarding internet gambling: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, and Utah.
California