Column: Don't count on Rhode Island casino soon

Tuesday, August 16, 2005  

"I would never predict, based on oral arguments, how the state Supreme Court will rule.

But I'll be astonished if the three judges sitting yesterday tell the Rhode Island House that a referendum bill it's eyeing for a Narragansett Indian/Harrah's casino in West Warwick passes muster.

Last summer the court put the kibosh on a casino bill the House and Senate enacted over Governor Carcieri's veto. It said the bill failed to meet a constitutional requirement that lotteries be state-run. Casino promoters have offered a new bill to solve that, but nevertheless Chief Justice Frank Williams and Justices Paul Suttell and William Robinson yesterday sounded, for the most part, deeply skeptical."

Get the Story:
M. Charles Bakst: At high court, don't bet on a casino (The Providence Journal 8/16)
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