VANDERBILT – It is not immediately known what the outcome will be for the shuttered Bay Mills Vanderbilt Casino now that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated the injunction against the casino today (Wednesday).
A Wednesday news release from Shannon Jones, Bay Mills Indian Community spokesperson, stated the appeals court had ruled in favor of the tribe, “vacating the injunction on the Vanderbilt Casino as of Aug. 15.”
Calls to Jones and Joy Yearout, spokesperson for the state attorney general’s office, were not immediately returned to the Herald Times for an explanation of what exactly the ruling means for the two sides who have been embroiled in a legal battle since shortly after Bay Mills opened an 84 slot machine gaming operation just north of Vanderbilt in November 2010.
The casino was ordered shut down in March 2011, just five months after opening, when a federal judge denied a motion by Bay Mills to remain open while the legality of its operations in Vanderbilt worked their way through the courts.
Less than a month after the casino opened the attorney general’s office and the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians challenged the legality of the casino in a lawsuit.
According to Jones the most recent court action “found that it (court) lacked jurisdiction over certain claims being made by the State of Michigan and Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, plaintiffs in the case. In particular, the court found that all of Little Traverse’s causes of actions have been ‘knocked out.’”
The shuttered casino is located at the former site of the visitor information center which had been owned by Treetops Resort at the north village limits of Vanderbilt.
Bay Mills purchased the property in 2010 just prior to renovating the building and opening it for use as a casino.
Since it opened in November 2010 Bay Mills leaders have maintained the casino was operating on Indian land because the property had been purchased with money from the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act.
Kurt Perron, Bay Mills Tribal Chairman said in Wednesday’s news release, “The court’s ruling is a step in the right direction. Though many issues must still be resolved in this litigation, we ultimately look forward to affirming the tribe’s rights.”
