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 . . . Massachusetts
Boston Globe Editorial on Mashpee
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
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
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.
Update From Massachusetts: Mashpee Wampanoag's Casino Efforts
Jul
14
2010
Today's featured student guest post is by Joshua Haugen, a second-year law student at UND:Massachusetts is deciding whether or not to allow a casino to be opened. A recent article mentions some really interesting points like:
"The Mashpee Wampanoag Indian tribe started the whole Massachusetts competition when it announced plans in 2007 to build a $1-billion casino-hotel complex in Middleboro. Since then, the tribe has changed leaders, financiers and its proposed casino location.
"The competitors now include three other racetracks, a second Indian tribe and other commercial groups, who’ve announced plans of varying scope for New Bedford, Fall River, Raynham, Plainville, Milford and Palmer.
Kathryn Quoted on Compact Politics in Cape Cod Times
Feb
2
2010
Kathryn's quoted in this Cape Cod Times article on the politics of compact negotiations and tribal-state relations. In Massachusetts, as the Mashpee Wampanoag continue to pursue Class III gaming, the tribe and the governor are on different sides of another issue -- a wind farm in Nantucket Sound.A wind farm, of course, is not related to gaming, and under IGRA should not be an issue that enters into compact negotiations. But politics, unlike law, is not easily compartmentalized into relevant and irrelevant considerations. Here's what Kathryn said about the possible impact of the tribe's and governor's difference of opinion:
More from Massachusetts
Jan
29
2010
The Cape Cod Times reports that the Mashpee Wampanoag may be looking at a new community partner for an off-reservation casino: Fall River, a community hard hit by unemployment.