Other nonbinding opinions support tribe's claim that it can operate gambling machines
The lawyer involved in the 2000 state Supreme Court case to ban video gambling says the Catawba Indian Nation has no legal right to operate the machines on reservation land in York County.
Columbia attorney Richard Gergel's four-page document contradicts conclusions reached in two previous analyses of the tribe's controversial claim to video poker rights.
"A review of controlling law ... demonstrates that the Catawbas have no greater right to operate video gambling devices than any other persons or entities in the state," Gergel wrote.
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Last fall, tribal attorney Jay Bender said the Catawbas legally could and probably would open a video poker facility at their reservation near Rock Hill should politicians block plans for a second bingo hall near Santee.
Two separate, nonbinding legal opinions supported the tribe. One, by Senate Judiciary Committee attorneys, was written at the request of Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston. The second, commissioned by an anti-video poker conservative think tank, was issued by Wallace Lightsey, a Greenville constitutional law expert.
The Judiciary attorneys and Lightsey warned that the state probably would lose any lawsuits filed by the Catawbas over their perceived video poker rights.
Lightsey highlighted a clause in the 1993 Catawba Land Claims Settlement Act that states, "if the reservation is located in a county or counties which prohibit the devices pursuant to state law, the tribe nonetheless must be permitted to operate the devices on the reservation if the governing body of the tribe so authorizes."
Sen. Wes Hayes, R-Rock Hill, sought a third legal opinion from Gergel after Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, announced plans to file legislation authorizing the Catawbas to open a 700- to 1,000-unit bingo hall at Santee. Hutto's bill would include a clause eliminating any video poker rights the tribe may retain under the 1993 settlement agreement.
Hutto said Friday he has decided to wait before filing the bill to give supporters time to work out compromises with anti-gaming York County legislators.
"We are still meeting with and discussing the bill with York (County) House members," Hutto said. "In the end, both sides may decide we have to make some compromises."
But Hayes said compromise is highly unlikely. "We are told that if we do not allow the Catawbas to open their bingo casino, they will sue the state and open a video poker operation on their reservation," he stated in an editorial sent to various newspapers last week. "I find this entire argument nonsense."
Gergel argued on behalf of the state in the landmark Supreme Court case that forced the $3 billion a year video poker industry out of business. He later represented approximately 40 gambling addicts in successful lawsuits against several video poker barons. He also was hired recently to represent State Law Enforcement Division Chief Robert Stewart in a video poker court case.
Source: Associated Press
