Last updated: May 6, 2008

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Selected Indian Law Cases Discovered: April 30 - May 6

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Michigan Gambling Opposition v. Kempthorne
2008 WL 1932769
No. 07-5092
United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, April 29, 2008

Subjects: Gambling on Indian reservations -- Michigan; Indian gaming -- Class III -- Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan; United States. Indian Gaming Regulatory Act; Building sites; United States. National Environmental Policy Act of 1969; Environmental impact statements; Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI); Intergovernmental agreements -- Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan; Intergovernmental agreements -- Michigan; Land into trust.

*Synopsis: (from the opnion) In 2005, the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs of the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of Interior decided to take 147 acres of land in Wayland Township, Michigan, into trust for use by the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians (“the Tribe”), which plans to construct and operate a Class III casino. This decision followed federal recognition of the Tribe in 1998. A non-profit Michigan membership organization-Michigan Gambling Opposition (“MichGO”)-sued the Secretary of the Interior, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (“BIA”) and the National Indian Gaming Commission (“NIGC”) (collectively the “DOI”) alleging that the DOI's approval of the proposed casino violated the National Environmental Protection Act (“NEPA”), 42 U.S.C. § 4321 et seq., and that section 5 of the Indian Reorganization Act (“IRA”), 25 U.S.C. § 465, was unconstitutional. The district court granted summary judgment to the DOI, and MichGO appeals. We hold that the DOI did not violate NEPA and that section 5 of the IRA is not an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority. Accordingly, we affirm.

*Holding: not yet available

Related News Story: Appeals court judge strikes blows against Indian rights (Indianz.com) 5/5/08

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