Connecticut’s two federally recognized Native American tribes have a unique argument for why a judge should dismiss a lawsuit brought by MGM Resorts against the federal government.
MGM is suing the U.S. Department of the Interior over its approval of a long-planned tribal-run casino in East Windsor, Connecticut, that would compete with the company’s casino in Springfield, Massachusetts. MGM says the approval creates an unlawful advantage for the tribes in competing for casino rights off of tribal lands.
The Mashantucket and Mohegan tribes say they have a right to intervene in the lawsuit because it would financially hurt them and the State of Connecticut. But they say the law prevents them from joining the suit because they have sovereign immunity as tribes – and so they say the lawsuit should be dismissed entirely.
