Indian Gaming Now

Massachusetts

Steve on the Mashpee Clearing One More Hurdle

Posted by Kathryn Rand | Filed under:
Feb 13 2013

The Mashpee Wampanoag have received a favorable preliminary advisory opinion from the Interior Department -- one more hurdle cleared in their race toward a casino in Taunton, MA.

Interior finds that the lands that tribe is asking to be acquired in trust would qualify as the Tribe's "initial reservation" under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).

Mashpee & Masschusetts Announce Compact Agreement

Posted by Steven Light | Filed under:
Jul 12 2012
Tribal-state compacting is alive and well, it seems. The Mashpee Wampanoag and Massachusetts announced yesterday they've agreed on a compact that is another milestone on the way to legalized casino gambling in that state.

Steve is quoted in the Boston Globe on the key question about the compact's terms: whether the tribe's agreement to pay a 21.5% cut of gambling revenue to the state -- less than the 25% to be paid by commercial casino operators -- will overcome federal scrutiny.  As Steve asks, “The question will be, is 21.5 too high?”

Kathryn Quoted on Mashpee Tribe & Taunton Casino

Posted by Kathryn Rand | Filed under:
Jul 10 2012
Kathryn is quoted extensively in this Taunton Gazette article, "Hurdles Still Stand Between Mashpee Tribe and Taunton Casino," on the effect of two Supreme Court cases on the Mashpee Wampanoag's efforts to secure trust lands.   Here's an excerpt from the article:

Patrick to Begin Negotiating Compact with Mashpee Wampanoag

Posted by Kathryn Rand | Filed under:
Mar 16 2012
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is set to start Class III compact negotiations with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe for a possible casino in Taunton.  The Tribe had issued a formal request for compact negotiations earlier this week.  Under IGRA, the Tribe's formal request triggers the state's duty to negotiate in good faith.  25 U.S.C. section 2710(d)(3) provides, "Any Indian tribe having jurisdiction over the Indian lands upon which a class III gaming activity is . . .

Boston Globe Editorial on Mashpee

Posted by Kathryn Rand | Filed under:
Feb 7 2012
This Boston Globe editorial encourages "special treatment" for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts. Critics, of course, use the term "special treatment" to signal discrimination against the majority, in this case everyone other than the tribe. But here "special treatment" really means "treatment that takes into account that the Tribe is a government." To treat the Tribe no differently than an individual or a corporation is inappropriate under federal law. Further, as the editorial points out, the Mashpee have an historical and present-day context that the state should care about.

Kathryn Quoted in Boston Globe on Mashpee

Posted by Kathryn Rand | Filed under:
Jan 31 2012
Kathryn's quoted in this Boston Globe article on the Mashpee Wampanoag's efforts to acquire tribal lands and open a casino, and the effect of the Carcieri decision on the tribe's land-into-trust application.

More on Mashpee Wampanoag in Massachusetts

Posted by Kathryn Rand | Filed under:
Jul 27 2010
Today's student guest blog post is by Andrew Weiss, a second-year law student in Kathryn's Indian Gaming Law course.  Andrew's post discusses another twist in the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's pursuit of a casino.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Indians plan to build a casino in Fall River, MA, which is about an hour away from Boston and 20 minutes away from Providence, RI (a highly lucrative location).  This new project was announced around May of this year after negotiations with the city of Middleborough fell through.  The new casino in Fall River will include three hotels, a gambling area, shopping mall, and indoor waterpark.