Lawyers from all sides in the case of David Patchak versus the government and the Gun Lake Tribe were scheduled to meet recently in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for a status review. Patchak’s lawsuit, filed in 2008, potentially could shut down the Gun Lake Casino in Wayland, Michigan.
In his original lawsuit, Patchak, a former Wayland Township trustee who lives near the casino site, claims the casino’s volume of visitors would lower his property value and bring pollution, crime and diversion of municipal resources to the rural area. He the way the federal government took 147 acres of land in trust for the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, also known as the Gun Lake Tribe, which allowed the casino to be built in Wayland Township. Patchak alleges the move was illegal because the tribe was not recognized by the government when the Indian Reorganization Act was passed in 1934. The tribe received official recognition in 1998.
The government and the tribe contend Patchak lacks legal standing and that such lawsuits are barred by the federal Quiet Title Act.
Patchak’s suit was filed in 2011, before casino construction began, and was dismissed. But it was reinstated by a federal appeals court after construction started. The U.S. Supreme Court, in an 8-1 ruling in 2012, held that Patchak had standing to sue the U.S. government and the Gun Lake Tribe. The court said the government did not have immunity from the lawsuit.
