The Case Of Michigan Vs. Bay Mills

1718 Words7 Pages

Michigan vs. Bay Mills is a recent case that was decided by the Supreme Court in 2013. I chose to research this case for my judicial process class because I found it interesting. It is interesting because I do not know much about the United States federal government, states and Native American tribe’s current relationship. I have always thought that Native Americans act on their own government system with no interference from the United States almost like they are a separate country/ nation just residing within the United States. However, after researching the Michigan vs. Bay Mills court case I now understand that its relationship is more complex. The court case discusses rather or not an Indian tribe can have a gambling casino outside of …show more content…

Under the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act, lands bought with funds from a congressionally established trust are Indian lands. On November 3, 2010, the Bay Mills Indian Community, a federally recognized Indian tribe with a reservation located in northern Michigan, opened a small casino in the town of Vanderbilt, Michigan, on lands purchased with funds from this trust. The state of Michigan sued for closure of the casino by claiming that the Bay Mills casino violated state gaming laws, as well as various provisions of its Tribal-State compact. The district court entered a preliminary injunction ordering Bay Mills to stop the gambling at the Vanderbilt casino. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated the injunction and held that the district court lacked jurisdiction over some of the plaintiffs' claims, while Bay Mills' sovereign immunity bars the others” ("Michigan vs Bay Mills Indian …show more content…

Michigan disagreed and sued Bay Mill community because they do not consider the purchased land Indian land and thus state laws only apply on what type of businesses are allowed to be operated on the land. When the case was brought forth to the Supreme Court they stated that it was a reach of tribal immunity. Tribal immunity includes that a tribe is immune from suits for commercial activities on non tribal land as long as the federal law has not bluntly waived immunity. However the jurist did note that in dicta that a state may use other means of state- specific enforcement methods against individuals who are involved with the commercial activity. ("INDIAN LAW Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian