| People Against a Casino
Town
|
| News
from PACT |
|
Testing State's ban on casinos
Opinion
Albany Democrat-Herald Friday, December 12, 2003 Opponents of an Indian casino about to be built in Florence have gone to court in Lane County, trying to block the project. They may be fighting a losing battle, but it's worth fighting anyhow as a matter of principle. The opponents have noticed, for example, that the Oregon constitution still contains this section in Article XV: "The Legislative Assembly has no power to authorize, and shall prohibit, casinos from operation in the state of Oregon." The section has not been repealed. In spite of it, we have eight gambling casinos in Oregon, all operated by or on behalf of Indian tribes (Chinook Winds in Lincoln City; Kla-Mo-Ya in Klamath Falls; Spirit Mountain in Grand Ronde, Old Camp in Burns; Indian Head in Warm Springs, Seven Feathers in Canyonville, The Mill in North Bend, and Wild Horse near Pendleton). The casinos have been allowed under a combination of federal law and state agreements or compacts reached in apparent compliance with that law. Underlying the arrangement is the notion, embodied in treaties from the last century, that the remaining tribes and their successors have the status of sovereign governments. The view of the tribes as being sovereign is easily understood in regard to tribal lands or reservations. It becomes problematical when applied to other lands, such as property bought in recent years for the very purpose of building a gambling hall. And that seems to be the case in Florence. The state ban on casinos may not apply on reservations. And the state constitution is trumped by federal law whenever the two conflict. But was the ban also repealed for all of Oregon when Congress enacted the Indian gambling act in 1988? Or are Oregon officials, such as the governor, still obliged to enforce the state ban on what used to be non-tribal lands? These are questions that the Oregon or federal courts ought to answer once and for all. If the Oregon ban on casinos means nothing and has been superseded by something else, then all citizens should be entitled to ignore it, not just the governor and the leaders of the Indian tribes. (hh) http://www.dhonline.com/articles/2003/12/11/news/opinion/edit01.txt |
|
Related Links: |
| PACT SEARCH FACTS LAWSUIT LINKS NEWS RESEARCH ACTION |