Opinion
Harold Monteau: NIGC should stand up to DOJ


"The National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) should not capitulate its agency's discretion to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) by further restricting the play of Class II gaming devices. The NIGC stands in the role of a fiduciary as well as a regulatory agency in its relationship to the tribal nations.

The DOJ now threatens to continue to destabilize Class II gaming with their continued campaign against tribes using Class II devices. In the normal scheme of things, attorneys who continue to file actions based on a clearly-repudiated legal position can be sanctioned for filing ''frivolous'' actions. The arrogance and vindictiveness of DOJ's campaign in this area amounts to harassment of tribes and tribal leaders.

DOJ has now brought political pressure to bear on the NIGC to use its regulatory process to overturn those court decisions and restrict the play of Class II gaming devices. The proposed NIGC regulations have little to do with genuine regulatory concerns and seek to make the play of these games slower and less attractive to players. Yet the NIGC's attempt at ''appeasement'' does not go far enough for DOJ.

In a March 16 letter to NIGC Chairman Phil Hogan, then-DOJ Assistant Attorney General Tom Sansonetti threatened to advocate for ''legislative reform'' of the IGRA by clarifying and defining the scope of permissible gaming ''to avoid litigation and inconsistencies.'' The letter calls the proposed regulations ''inconsistent with the Johnson Act and IGRA.'' The letter also, quite arrogantly, instructs the NIGC to ''read the DOJ petitions for certiorari in the Santee Sioux and Seneca-Cayuga cases'' if the NIGC does not get the DOJ position."

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Harold Monteau: NIGC should stand up for the tribes (Indian Country Today 4/11)
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