By Staff
WASHINGTON - A U.S. Supreme Court decision Tuesday validated four state-tribal gaming compacts the Michigan Legislature approved in 1998.
The court denied an appeal filed by Taxpayers of Michigan Against Casinos (TOMAC) without comment.
TOMAC's request to the Supreme Court asked it to review and overturn the Michigan Supreme Court's 2004 decision holding that the Legislature acted properly in binding the State of Michigan to the compacts through use of a resolution rather than a bill.
The lawsuit brought by TOMAC questioned the constitutionality of the process by which the Michigan Legislature ratified compacts between the State of Michigan and the Dowagiac-based Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians in New Buffalo in Berrien County; the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Petoskey; the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi in Battle Creek; and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians in Manistee.
Compacts negotiated by former governor John Engler were ratified by resolutions in the Legislature in December 1998.
In July 2004, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the Michigan Legislature did not violate the state constitution when it approved four tribal casino compacts in 1998 by a resolution.
The Supreme Court ruling upheld a 2002 ruling by the Michigan Court of Appeals that reversed a ruling in 1999 by Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Peter Houk. TOMAC filed the original lawsuit in July 1999.