Kudos to “Bellicose Bumpkin” for his open letter to the Governor, state Senator Pacheco, et al, regarding a tribal casino in southeastern Mass. Bumpkin links to a letter with supporting documentation from Middleborough attorney Adam Bond:
Please take a look at this letter that was submitted to the Bureau of Indian Affairs asking them to reject the Mashpee’s application for trust land in East Taunton – or anywhere else for that matter. It references their own letters, several of them in fact, that state emphatically, clearly, unequivocally … and repeatedly that the Mashpee Wampanoag were NOT UNDER FEDERAL JURISDICTION prior to 1934. Were not. Understand that I am not just giving my interpretation – this evidence actually uses the words “not under federal jurisdiction”. Snap. Slam. Dunk. Done.
He concludes that a Carcieri fix is the only recourse:
The ONLY … again ONLY way the Mashpee can get reservation land is by … literally … an act of Congress.
The state should have plenary authority to grant gaming license as it sees fit and the tribes should have to bid for them like anyone else.
is just plain antiquated. I know it’s complicated, and I have no idea what we *should* be doing, but what we do now doesn’t seem to make a bit of sense.
there’s always the prospect of legal technicalities to achieve the NIMBY’s noble goals.
When it comes to casinos, a lot of us are Not In Anybody’s Back Yard types. Casino gambling is a bad idea, regardless of whose town it’s inflicted on. It wasn’t that the moral arguments failed, it’s that the political system did.
do you mean: following the rules upon which society agreed upon?