Church Can’t Stop Jamul Indian Indian Casino

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jamul-casinoSACRAMENTO (CN) - Jamul Indians may continue building a mega-casino near San Diego despite opposition from a Christian church, which claimed the site was not on a reservation, a federal judge ruled.

The Jamul Action Committee and Jamul Community Church sued the Department of the Interior and National Indian Gaming Commission in 2013. They contested a gaming commission finding that the Jamul Indian Village had "Indian lands" qualified for gambling under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

That decision gave the green light for a 203,000-square-foot mega-casino on 4.7 acres 20 miles east of downtown San Diego.

The $360 million development will include "at least 1,700 slot machines, 50 live table games including poker, multiple restaurants" and parking, court documents state.
Opponents claimed the parcel is not a reservation and does not qualify as Indian lands eligible for gambling.

Specifically, they said, the defendants lacked authority to take the parcel in trust for the Jamul Indian Village or to treat it like a reservation under the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA).

Though IRA trusts cover recognized Indian tribes under federal jurisdiction, Supreme Court precedent limits inclusion "to federally recognized tribes that were in existence when the IRA was enacted in 1934," the plaintiffs said.

Federal recognition of the Jamul Indian Village came after 1980. Thus, the parcel is not a reservation as defined in federal law, the opponents claimed.

Read more at: Church Can't Stop SoCal Indian Casino

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