The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to review two gambling-related lawsuits, including an appeal by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida regarding taxing distributions and the Comanche Nation’s request to block a Chickasaw Nation casino.
The Supreme Court declined, without explanation, to review the Miccosukee’s appeal regarding whether gambling revenues distributed to tribal members are subject to federal income taxes. The tribe appealed to the Supreme Court last year after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the distributions are taxable.
In a January brief, tribal lawyers cited a federal law allowing untaxed “general welfare” distributions to members. They also stated, “The Eleventh Circuit’s ruling strips the ability of tribal governments to administer their general welfare programs as they see fit. Most obviously, the ruling eliminates tribes’ ability to use gaming revenue for general welfare payments without suffering tax consequences. But that limitation is not found anywhere in the statute.”
Federal attorneys countered in an April brief that a “distribution of gambling revenues made equally to every tribal member does not satisfy that established and ordinary meaning” of a general welfare benefit.
The justices also let stand a ruling by U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals against the Comanche Nation, which sought to block the Chickasaw Nation from building a casino in southern Oklahoma. The Comanche Nation claimed the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior Department had wrongfully taken land into trust for the Chickasaws to build the casino in Terral, Jefferson County.
In its petition to the Supreme Court, tribal attorneys wrote, “The Comanche had no choice but to bring this challenge. The Chickasaw Nation already has two dozen casinos bringing in more than a billion dollars a year. It is setting up yet another casino at Terral, Oklahoma, less than 45 miles down river from the Comanche Red River Hotel and Casino at Devol.”
The fight began in 2017 when the Department of the Interior approved of a casino project in Terral. The department approved of the casino without consulting with the Comanche. They did not find out about the casino until construction had already begun. This happened before the Interior Department published the approval in the Federal Registry.
This battle highlights resentment felt by some of the poor Plains tribes of the eastern part of the state that they are not treated as well as the more powerful Five Civilized Tribes of western Oklahoma. They are perceived as having more political connections.
Heaton and the appeals court agreed that the Comanche Nation’s complaint was filed after the expiration of the 6-year statute of limitations for challenging a regulation. Heaton added, “There is no dispute here that the Terral property is within the boundaries of the historical reservation of the Chickasaw tribe. So assuming it is a ‘former’ reservation, the Oklahoma exception plainly applies.”
In addition, Heaton dismissed the Comanche Nation’s complaints that the Chickasaw Nation’s casino plans didn’t comply with environmental regulations.
The casino that was approved was the 22nd in a series of casinos owned by the Chickasaw Nation, which is both the most politically connected and richest of the “Five Tribes.”
The Comanche fear that the Chickasaw will expand west into their territory and threaten their smaller casinos.
Richard Grellner, lead attorney for the Comanche reacted to the Supreme Court’s lack of action: “Obviously the Nation is disappointed. However, regardless of the outcome the Nation believes Interior and the Chickasaw breached its fundamental obligations to ‘consult’ with the Comanche under a plethora of federal statutes and applicable regulations with respect to the Terral casino.”
