Town prepares to fight island gaming
The town of Aquinnah and a community association are seeking to join a federal lawsuit to protect their rights as the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) settles a dispute with the state over gambling rights.
The motions, filed Thursday on behalf of the town and the Aquinnah/Gay Head Community Association, are in response to U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor's IV's decision earlier this month that the dispute belongs in federal court.
A court hearing is scheduled for Aug. 6, when Saylor is expected to set a schedule for settling the dispute and will likely hear arguments on whether to allow the town and association to become parties.
Gov. Deval Patrick brought suit against the tribe in December after the Aquinnah Wampanoag Gaming Authority said publicly it planned to build a high-stakes bingo hall in its unfinished community center on Martha's Vineyard. In an attempt to block that move, Patrick filed suit in state court alleging breach of contract.
The state's position is the Vineyard-based tribe waived its rights to a casino in a land settlement agreement reached in 1983 and approved by Congress in 1987. The tribe, with support of legal opinions from both the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Indian Gaming Commission, contends the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 supersedes the land agreement.
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is a federal law that allows tribes to offer certain types of gambling on reservation land so long as they are legal in the tribe's home state.
The tribe was successful in having the suit moved from state to federal court based on Saylor's ruling.
The town and association say they have legal interests in the case because they were part of the land settlement with the tribe that provided the Aquinnah Wampanoag with 400 acres of reservation land on the island.
In his motion, attorney Ronald Rappaport wrote that the town seeks to become a party to the suit to protect its rights. The town argues that the Aquinnah in the settlement agreement agreed to follow state and local zoning bylaws.
"The town respectfully requests that it should also be afforded an opportunity to advance its position, consistent with the (Supreme Judicial Court) and the Massachusetts Appeals Court, and that the plain language of the settlement agreement, and the terms of the permits .....
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