:Vanderbilt Casino issue headed to U.S. Supreme Court
LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette today announced the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear arguments regarding his appeal of a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit that halted Michigan’s legal challenge to the illegal expansion of off-reservation gambling by the Bay Mills Indian Community. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for the case Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community this fall.
“Today’s ruling sets the stage for an important discussion about the states’ ability to halt the unrestrained expansion of off-reservation tribal casino gambling,” said Schuette. “We look forward to making our case before the nation’s highest court this fall.”
In December 2010 the State of Michigan filed a lawsuit against the Bay Mills Indian Community challenging their operation of an illegal off-reservation casino in Vanderbilt, Michigan.
On March 29, 2011 U.S. District Court Judge Paul Maloney issued a preliminary injunction ordering the casino closed pending the outcome of the lawsuit.
The tribe appealed, and on August 15, 2013 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit reversed the trial court decision, declaring that the district court did not have jurisdiction under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and that the tribe had sovereign immunity. Schuette sought U.S. Supreme Court review in October 2012.