As you saw in the Jamul Shopper "20 YEARS and STILL NO CASINO".

The Jamul Indian Village and Lakes Entertainment are taking a new tactic. On November 22nd, 2011, Lakes and the tribe entered into a new contract. Three phases that include taking the 100 acres surrounding the village land into trust.

JAC has been contacted by Cheryl Schmit of Stand Up for California, a statewide organization with a focus on gambling issues affecting California, to alert us of a lawsuit regarding trust land. In short, the Secretary of the Interior published a notice on May 13, 2005 to take legal title to a 147-acre tract of land in Michigan for the Gun Lake Band of Indian. In August of 2008, a homeowner who lives near this tract filed a lawsuit against Secretary Salazar of the U.S. Department of the Interior (Bureau of Indain Affairs) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, stating the Secretary's decision to take the land into trust was unlawful because Congress intended to limit the authority of Section 5 of the IRA (Indian Reorganization Act). The IRA states that a tribe must be "under Federal jurisdiction" on the date of the enactment of the IRA, i.e. 1934. The Gun Lake Band was not under Federal jurisdiction in 1934. (Sound familiar? The JIV was not "under Federal jurisdiction in 1934)

On January 30, 2009, the Secretary of the Interior took title to the land into trust. Three weeks later, on February 24, 2009 the U.S. Supreme Court decided Carcieri v. Salazar, a decision in which the Court agreed with the Michigan homeowner regarding the intent of Congress in section 5 of the IRA.

The Secretary argued to the U.S. District Court should dismiss the lawsuit. On August 20, 2009 the U.S. District Court dismissed the lawsuit but not because the court agreed with the Secretary but because they felt the homeowner did not have "prudential standing" to invoke the jurisdiction of the court to adjudicate.

On January 21, 2011 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued Patchak v. Salazar, a decision in which it reversed the U.S. District Court.

Petition for a Writ of Certiorari - At the request of the Secretary of the Interior, in August of 2011 the Solicitor General filed a petition that requested the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision. On December 12, 2011 the U.S. Supreme Court granted the petition.

This spring the attorneys who represent the Michigan homeowner will file briefs and the U.S. Supreme court will hear one hour of oral argument.

So what does this all mean to our community?

If the U.S. Supreme Court agrees with the Secretary of the Interior that homeowners do not have prudential standing to file lawsuits that seek judicial review of the lawfulness of taking land into trust, the practical legal consequence will be that henceforth NO private citizen or citizen organization who or that may be adversely affected by ANY land-into-trust decision may seek judicial review of the lawfulness of the decision.

That means should the Jamul Indian Village be allowed to take the additional 100 acres into trust and we as a community, homeowners, land owners and business owners will not have a say on what happens on that land.

JAC has been asked by Stand Up for California and other community organizations throughout the state of California to join in submitting a Amici Curiae (amicus brief) in support of Mr. Patchak who will be going in front of the U.S. Supreme Court to fight for our rights as U.S. citizens.

It is important for the U.S. Supreme Court to be aware when it decides Salazar v. Patchak of the effect its decision may have of the ability of private citizens and citizen organizations in California to ensure that the Secretary of the Interior does not act unlawfully when he makes land-into-trust decisions that have the consequence of bringing Indian gaming facilities into communities whose residents do not want them. An amicus brief can educate the U.S. Supreme Court about the situation in California in a way that the briefs Mr. Patchak's attorneys file cannot.

In order to help defend our rights, we need your help. Please send in your donations as soon as possible to:

JAC

P.O. Box 1317

Jamul CA 91935