Tribe sues SC over gaming

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – South Carolina’s only federally recognized Indian tribe should be allowed to offer gambling on its reservation because the state lets casino cruise ships operate off the coast, the tribe said in a lawsuit.

The Catawba Indian Nation’s suit filed Tuesday is the tribe’s latest attempt to get gambling on its land. When South Carolina started a lottery in 2002, the tribe sued to have gambling machines, but they lost.

The Catawbas’ argument this time is similar to their previous lawsuit, but focuses on a 2005 law that allowed gambling cruises.

Attorneys for the Catawbas say a 1993 agreement that recognized the tribe gives it the right to have games to the extent they are allowed anywhere else in the state. In 2005, state legislators passed the Gambling Cruise Act, which set rules and regulations for gaming ships that are allowed to operate three miles off the ship’s coastline.

Catawba Chief William Harris argued that gaming is crucial for the tribe, which he said “has no viable operating economic development ventures at present.” According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the Catawbas’ per capita income was $11,000, and unemployment on the reservation was more than double that of South Carolina, Harris said.

“Native Americans suffer disparate treatment, but the law is supposed to mean we do not get treated differently by the government because of our race, the color of our skin or our unique beliefs, customs and culture,” Harris said in court papers.

Plans on the reservation include a 220,000 square-foot gaming facility and two hotels with 750 rooms, a capital investment of nearly $340 million by its third year, according to an economic impact study also filed in court.

Gaming on the reservation would yield more than 4,000 permanent jobs, plus another 4,300 during construction. After the facilities are complete, according to the study, York County would see nearly $260 million in annual economic activity, while the state would reap $100 million in annual gaming fees and about $9.8 million in sales and income taxes.

Spokesmen for Gov. Nikki Haley and the State Law Enforcement Division, whose chief is named in the suit, did not immediately return messages seeking comment. The tribe is also asking that local authorities be prevented from seizing gaming machines while the lawsuit moves forward.

The Catawbas have long tried to capitalize on the known economic benefits that come from tribal gaming operations, which in 2009 generated $26.2 billion in gross revenue across the country, according to the National Indian Gaming Association.

The Catawbas sued the state in 2005, saying the tribe needed to open a video gambling parlor to recoup profits lost at its Rock Hill bingo hall when South Carolina began a statewide lottery in 2002. The tribe also argued that the 1993 settlement allowed them to have video poker, even though the machines were outlawed statewide years earlier.

At the time, state prosecutors argued that if the Catawbas were allowed to offer video gambling on their York County reservation, the door would open for “unrestricted, uncontrolled and unregulated” video poker in South Carolina, also arguing that the land deal subjects the tribe to state gambling laws.

A judge ruled in the tribe’s favor, but the state Supreme Court ultimately overturned the decision. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

The 2,600-member tribe was officially recognized under a 1993 settlement, receiving 640 acres. The transfer followed a heated 13-year legal fight about an 1840 treaty that the Catawbas said illegally took away 144,000 acres of their land. The settlement also provided the tribe with $50 million along with restoring its rights as a nation.

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Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP