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The Seneca Indian Nation is asking a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit meant to stop the tribe from building a casino in this city because neither the tribe nor state are allowed to get involved in the legal action.
The lawsuit against former Interior Secretary Gale Norton and other federal officials centers around a compact between the western New York tribe and New York state.
But neither side involved in the compact — who would be most affected by the lawsuit's outcome — is named in the suit; the Constitution protects states from being sued in federal court and tribes, likewise, have sovereign immunity.
"Because the nation and state are necessary and indispensable parties to this action whose joinder is barred by sovereign immunity, the nation respectfully requests that the court dismiss this action," Seneca lawyers wrote.
The lawsuit filed by Citizens Against Casino Gambling in Erie County and joined by County Executive Joel Giambra contends federal officials evaded or misapplied laws governing the siting of Indian casinos, the environment and historic preservation when they approved a casino compact negotiated by Gov. George Pataki and the Senecas in 2002.
"The present lawsuit represents nothing less than a frontal assault" on the compact, the Senecas wrote in the "friend of the court" brief filed in U.S. District Court last week.
An attorney for the anti-casino coalition said the group would file an opposing brief.
"They're saying they can't be excluded (from the lawsuit) but can't be included either," Joseph Finnerty said. "It's speaking out of both sides of the mouth and wanting everything a certain way, the way that suits their purposes."
The Senecas, under their agreement with the state, have already opened two lucrative western New York casinos, in Niagara Falls and on their reservation in Salamanca. But efforts to open a third and final casino have not gone smoothly.
In addition to the federal lawsuit, a lawsuit seeking to halt construction is pending in state Supreme Court.
Also in recent weeks, tension has built between the tribe and Mayor Byron Brown over Brown's refusal to sell the Senecas part of a city street that runs through the nine-acre site the tribe bought for the project. Brown wants written assurances that the Senecas will hire specific percentages of Buffalo residents and minorities and will not buy and convert to sovereign territory additional city property.
Seneca President Barry Snyder, in an op-ed piece in Wednesday's Buffalo News, responded that the Senecas "do not need agreements to do the right thing."
Snyder said Brown had rejected a written proposal presented by the Senecas intended to address Brown's concerns.
"We are not outsiders looking to come in and take over the city," Snyder wrote. "Our people have always lived here and want to play our part in revitalizing the land."
Without the street, the Senecas said they would build a less impressive casino that would not reap the same economic rewards for the city as the $125 million structure originally planned.
In exchange for being allowed to run casinos in New York, the Senecas share slot machine revenues with the state and host communities.
The tribe's gambling arm, the Seneca Gaming Corp., on Tuesday reported that revenues from its existing casinos were $134.3 million in the three months ending June 30, an increase of nearly 17 percent from the same period a year earlier.
A hearing on the federal lawsuit is scheduled for early November. Norton and the other defendants have moved for the suit's dismissal.
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