A 5-4 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court
dictates that because tribal sovereign immunity was not ended by the federal
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the state cannot sue the Bay Mills Indian
Community over its disputed Vanderbilt casino. The court left open the option
of suing an individual tribal official of gambling without a license, rather
than suing the tribe itself and stopping the casino. Justice Elena Kagan, who
wrote the court’s opinion, was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice
Anthony Kennedy, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and Justice Stephen Breyer. The
Supreme Court remanded the case back to the District Court, where Michigan
Attorney General Bill Schuette has vowed to continue the state’s suit.
Aaron Payment, chair of the Sault St.
Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, said the ruling means that they are within
their rights to move forward on a Lansing casino. The decision could make it
more difficult for the state to block the casino’s construction. Attorney
General Bill Schuette has sought an appeal to the Supreme Court on the U.S. 6th
District Court of Appeals’ ruling that the state cannot stop action on a
Lansing casino because there was nothing to stop action on.
Bay Mills participated in the 1993 compact
with Michigan that reached an agreement on revenue payments and regulations to
the state from its first Indian casinos. Bay Mills’ Vanderbilt casino was
subjected to an injunction by a federal district court, and the tribe stopped
operations on the site. The U.S. Court of Appeals later overturned that ruling.
Justice Kagan said tribal nations are domestic sovereign entities with inherent
sovereign rights, and state suits cannot diminish those rights as they are
strictly under the jurisdiction of the federal government.