Litigation | Openings & Closings

Judge schedules trial in Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe casino case

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe hosted a job and vendor fair for its First Light Resort and Casino in Taunton, Massachusetts, on May 14, 2016. Photo from Facebook

A lawsuit aimed at stopping the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe from opening a casino in Massachusetts is moving forward.

Judge William G. Young scheduled a pre-trial conference on June 29, a motion hearing that same day and a trial on July 11. He plans to determine whether the Bureau of Indian Affairs should have approved the land-into-trust application for the First Light Resort and Casino.

The tribe is not a party to the lawsuit but remains confident that the BIA's approval will stand. Construction began in early April and the facility is due to open in the summer of 2017.

"The court will proceed to the merits of the case quickly and the government is prepared in defending the record of decision that re-established our tribal lands in Taunton and Mashpee," Chairman Cedric Cromwell said in a statement, The Cape Cod Times reported.

The plaintiffs in Littlefield v. Department of the Interior are largely basing their case on the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar. They say the BIA shouldn't have approved the application because the tribe wasn't "under federal jurisdiction" in 1934.

A docket entry shows court activity in the Littlefield v. Department of the Interior lawsuit. Judge Young declined to rule on a preliminary injunction sought by casino opponents but scheduled a pre-trial conference and motion hearing on June 29 and a trial on July 11.

The tribe's federal status was finalized in May 2007, long after that deadline. But the BIA, in a historic decision, said the tribe and its members satisfied the conditions of the Indian Reorganization Act because they were living on a "reservation" in 1934.

The analysis was based on a provision in the Indian Reorganization Act that wasn't at issue in Carcieri so the judge's decision in the case could lead to a long legal fight. But at this point it's not clear whether Young can actually stop the tribe from building the casino. On Monday, he declined to grant a preliminary injunction that the plaintiffs hope would have halted construction.

The trial will take place in the federal courthouse in Boston. Incidentally, the building also houses the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, which sided with the BIA not once but twice as part of the Carcieri lawsuit. The state of Rhode Island appealed and the Supreme Court overturned the decision on February 24, 2009.

Efforts to address the decision have failed in Congress but a partial Carcieri fix has been included in the fiscal year 2017 Interior appropriations bill. The provision, however, only protects land-into-trust acquisitions up until the date of the Supreme Court's decision so it would not benefit the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe.

Get the Story:
Trial date set in Taunton casino case (The Cape Cod Times 6/21)
Taunton casino opponents will get their day in court (The Boston Globe 6/21)

Land-Into-Trust Documents:
Chairman Cedric Cromwell Announcement | Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Press Release | Bureau of Indian Affairs Press Release | Assistant Secretary Kevin Washburn Letter to Chairman Cedric Cromwell | Record of Decision

DOI Solicitor Opinion:
M-37029: The Meaning of "Under Federal Jurisdiction" for Purposes of the Indian Reorganization Act (March 12, 2014)