“Plaintiffs (EBCI) raise several close and complex questions of statutory and regulatory construction, and the Court certainly cannot fault them for rolling the dice here,” Boasberg wrote in an April 16 opinion. The cell phone erupted to life on the nightstand in the pitch-black bedroom. But the Catawba immediately filed another application, this time under the discretionary process, and in September 2018 the DOI approved it. The tribe first applied for trust status in August 2013 under the mandatory acquisition process, and a March 2018 decision denied that request. We are disappointed to not be granted the ability to defend our position in the courtroom.”įor the past decade, the Catawba - whose reservation is located in Rock Hill, South Carolina - have been trying to get the Kings Mountain property taken into trust in order to build a casino there, but their initial efforts were unsuccessful. “The courts have been reviewing the legality of the Catawba casino, but this legislation will end that process. “Passage of this legislation marks the first time Congress has ever directly approved an off-reservation casino, an act which we continue to believe will have profound consequences for communities and tribes across the country,” said EBCI Principal Chief Richard Sneed.
