Opinion: Supreme Court turns tribal casino case 'radioactive'

Tapping into the seasonal tourist caravan making its way north is critical for tribal gaming.

So, when the Bay Mills Indian Community opened a 34-slot casino back in 2010 in the village of Vanderbilt off I-75, where only about 560 people live year-round, it wasn’t a surprise when the Little Traverse Bay Band and the state of Michigan both sued the tribe a week later.

The legal question of whether the tribe broke federal tribal gaming laws when it opened the establishment more than 100 miles from its Upper Peninsula location in Brimley made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court this week.

The case has now become radioactive.

“This is not a home game for Indian tribes at all. When tribes reach the Supreme Court, they are almost guaranteed a loss, especially with the justices in the Roberts court,” said Matthew Fletcher, an appellate court judge with the Grand Traverse Band and a professor at Michigan State University College of Law. “Tribes have had 10 cases with the Supreme Court and lost nine of them, and the only reason they won that case was the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed an amicus brief on behalf of the one tribe.”

Fletcher authored an essay last month in the Yale Law Journal exploring how the case could decimate nation building for all 566 federally recognized tribes in the United States.