"In Wednesday’s editorial about Florida’s proposal to allow expanded gambling on the Seminole reservation, you incorrectly claim “the state doesn’t have much real bargaining power” and suggest that Florida must cut a deal with the Seminoles or it will be forced to do so by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Although the tribe’s representatives have made those claims frequently, there is a great deal of evidence to the contrary.

In April, the 5th Circuit Court of the United States in Texas ruled that the federal government does not have the authority to force the people of that state to accept any form of gambling they don’t want.

Closer to home, Florida’s Attorney General Bill McCollum has issued a similar legal opinion. His viewpoint is supported by the history of this issue. Expanded gambling has never been forced by the federal government on any state.

In fact, Florida’s former statewide prosecutor, Pete Antonacci, argues in a September memorandum that there is no legal mechanism by which the U.S. government can force the state to do anything more than “negotiate in good faith” with the tribe.

Thus, we should not be bullied into cutting a sweetheart deal with the Seminoles based simply on the threat of federal intervention."

Get the Story:
Jim McClellan of the 'Florida Fair Deal Alliance': Florida doesn’t have to fold on more casino gambling (The Naples Daily News 10/15)