Update On Rohnert Park and Onieda - Land Into Trust Lawsuits

As I have stated many times, the future of Indian gaming and issues concerning land into trust for tribes will be determined through legal actions on all levels. Here’s the latest on a few of these cases.

Rohnert Park

An East Bay attorney has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to prevent a proposed casino from being built in Rohnert Park.

The lawsuit, filed by Stephan Volker in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, challenges the recent decision by Carl Artman, former assistant secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to take the land into trust for the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria.

The suit is against Secretary of the Interior Dick Kempthorne, not the tribe nor its partner, Station Casinos.

The suit cites constitutional issues surrounding federal trust land acquisitions in California, and asserts that the casino in Rohnert Park would cause harm to the community and the plaintiffs, which include attorney Mike Healy and Michael Erickson, both of Petaluma, and the Stop the Casino 101 Coalition. Healy is a former Petaluma city councilman.

“The Bureau of Indian Affairs jumped the gun by attempting to transfer title to this poorly planned site even before completing the environmental impact statement,” Volker said. “Operating a casino at this site poses huge environmental impacts, including massive traffic congestion on Highway 101 and over-pumping of local wells.

“The BIA has thumbed its nose at the public by attempting to end-run the laws that protect the public from needless environmental harm,” Volker said.

“We believe that the action of the federal government to entrust this real property in the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria will be at the expense of the citizens of Sonoma County,” added Erickson, chairman of the Sonoma County Republican Party. “The casino threatens to change dramatically the quality of life and local culture of Sonoma County, yet even the state of California is being shut out of the process, let alone the voices of the people who actually live here.”

If the lawsuit is successful, it would prevent the Rohnert Park site from being taken into trust, a necessary step in the process of opening a casino.

“The people are against this casino, and the will of the people will prevail, whether in courts or in Congress,” said the Rev. Chip Worthington, pastor of the Rohnert Park Assembly of God and founder of the Stop the Casino 101 coalition.

Oneida

Oneida County legislators on Wednesday unanimously voted to join a lawsuit against the federal government over a decision to put 13,000 acres of Oneida Indian Nation land into trust.

Madison County supervisors agreed Tuesday to join the suit with New York State.

The lawsuit will contain 20 arguments against the trust decision, said Madison County Attorney John Campanie.

The decision, issued last month by the federal Department of Interior, would make 13,004 acres of Oneida Indian land tax-exempt and under sovereign control of the tribe.

In other legal action concerning the decision, the Vernon Town Board on Monday voted unanimously to file a lawsuit with the town of Verona. The towns tried to join the lawsuit with the state and counties but were rebuffed, said Verona town Supervisor Owen Waller.

The towns will each chip in $5,000 for the retainer of Cornelius Murray, an Albany lawyer who worked with citizens groups in their successful court battles to declare the Oneida and Mohawk tribal casinos illegal.

The deadline for challenges to the trust decision is June 19.

Two citizens groups and several local officials have appealed the Department of Interior's decision to take Oneida Indian Nation land into trust.

The Central New York Fair Business Association and Citizens Equal Rights Alliance claim the decision violates several federal laws and misconstrues court decisions.

Joining the suit are state Assemblyman David Townsend, Oneida County Legislators Mike Hennessy and Chad Davis, and Oneida Indian Melvin Phillips.

The state and several local governments plan to file suit in federal court next week challenging the trust decision. Bureau of Indian Affairs spokeswoman Nedra Darling said the only appeal of the Interior decision is to federal court.

The citizens groups aren't taking any chances, said Judy Bachmann, a Vernon resident and a member of the rights alliance. She said the law is ambiguous on whether the decision must first be appealed to the Interior Board of Indian Appeals before a lawsuit can be filed.


Sources:
http://www.petaluma360.com/article/20080611/PT/142882625/-1/petaluma360&template=ptart
http://www.syracuse.com/articles/news/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1213260960231590.xml&coll=1