Nebraska
Allowed to Intervene in Casino Lawsuit
The state of Nebraska will
be allowed to intervene in a lawsuit filed by the
Santee Sioux Tribe challenging a decision that it
cannot legally operate video poker, blackjack, roulette
and other games at its Ohiya Casino.
U.S. Magistrate Thomas Thalken granted
the request from Attorney General Jon Bruning's
office on Tuesday.
"I don't want to see the expansion of gambling
anywhere in Nebraska," Bruning said Wednesday.
"And the state has a strong interest in controlling
gambling on the Indian reservations."
The U.S. Interior Department said earlier that
the tribe could not conduct pari-mutuel betting
on dog racing or simulcast, off-track betting on
horse racing. Simulcast betting on horses is available
in Nebraska only at venues that also offer live
racing.
The department said that only those gaming activities
now legal in the state, such as lotteries, keno
and on-track betting on horses, can be offered at
the casino.
The Santee lawsuit, filed in April, says the Interior
Department's ruling was arbitrary, capricious and
deprives the tribe of needed income.
Federal law allows states to enter into compacts
with tribes to run full-blown casinos on reservations,
but Nebraska has refused to do so.
The tribe has been trying since 1999 to expand
to other, flashier forms of gambling familiar at
Las Vegas-style casinos.
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