Keker, Van Nest & Peters has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the United Auburn Indian Community (UAIC) contesting the Department of the Interior’s approval of another tribe’s casino project. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on March 24, claims that the approval process for the project poses a threat to tribal sovereignty and violates federal laws.
The UAIC, which operates the Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, Calif., was joined in its lawsuits by a companion lawsuit filed on the same day by two Patwin tribes. Both complaints contest the Department of Interior’s Jan. 10 approval of the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians’ application for a 615,000-square-foot headquarters and casino project in Vallejo, Calif.
"It became clear ... that the last administration was just rushing ahead with a results-oriented decision," said Niall Frizell, a Keker associate on the legal team representing the United Auburn Indian Community. “And they wanted to make sure that this just got done by any means necessary, regardless of the procedural steps for actually properly considering the Indian law issues and the environmental law issues and the other issues that they needed to consider. It's an extraordinary dereliction from the normal process that they engaged in, arriving at that result.”
The lawsuits contend that the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians has no ancestral links to the land where the project is slated to be built and that the Department failed to assess the tribe’s historical connection to the land rigorously. The claims allege that the project's approval violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Indian Reorganization Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to appropriately consult with impacted tribes and conduct a full Environmental Impact Statement.
The cases are before Judge Trevor N. McFadden in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The UAIC is represented by Elliot Peters, Ajay Krishnan, Niall Frizzell, and Matt Guiang.
The full article is available at The Recorder (paywall).