Biden administration sides with Tigua, Alabama-Coushatta tribes in long-standing gambling fight with
Biden administration sides with Tigua, Alabama-Coushatta tribes in long-standing gambling fight with Texas
The U.S. Justice Department is urging the Supreme Court to reverse decades of court rulings that have said that El Pasos Tigua tribe and the Alabama-Coushatta of East Texas were illegally offering gambling on their land.
The Texas state government and the tribes have repeatedly gone to court since 1993 over gambling issues, with the state regularly prevailing since a 1994 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision known as Ysleta I held that federal law prohibited gambling on Tigua (also known as Ysleta del Sur Pueblo) and Alabama-Coushatta land. Now, the Biden administrations Justice Department says those court rulings were wrongly decided and urges the Supreme Court to lift the legal cloud hanging over the tribes.
That error has impaired the uniformity of a federal regulatory scheme, has uniquely disadvantaged two Indian tribes, and has generated repeated litigation and substantial confusion for nearly three decades, Acting Solicitor General Brian Fletcher and other Justice Department lawyers wrote in a brief submitted Aug. 25 to the high court.
Brant Martin, a Fort Worth-based attorney for the Tiguas, said we are pleased that the solicitor general of the United States has taken the position that it has, but declined further comment because the case is ongoing.
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https://elpasomatters.org/2021/08/31/biden-administration-sides-with-tigua-alabama-coushatta-tribes-in-long-standing-gambling-fight-with-texas/