Oregon appeals court allows casino challenge

FLORENCE — For three years, the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians have operated a casino on a sandy stretch of property on the eastern edge of town. For five years, a group of opponents to the venture have been arguing in court that the tribes shouldn’t have been allowed to build the Three Rivers Casino in the first place.

As lawsuits go, People Against a Casino Town’s case against the state of Oregon has been tied up in procedural limbo since it was first filed in 2003. The group tried to convince a state trial court, then the Oregon Supreme Court, then U.S. Circuit Court, to find that the governor isn’t allowed to sign gaming compacts with Indian tribes. In all those venues, PACT lost, but appealed the latest decision to the Oregon Court of Appeals.

This week, PACT got its first significant legal victory, when the court decided the case should be heard on its merits. Unless Oregon attorneys appeal the decision, a state trial court will now decide whether then-Gov. John Kitzhaber had the right to sign a compact with the Confederated Tribes.

Read more in Friday’s Register-Guard.

Posted on Thursday, June 12th, 2008, in Our Work In the News |
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