This just in: Scarcely was the ink dry on Massachusetts‘ new casino law when the state got slapped with litigation. The issue? The law’s “explicit, race-based set-asides that give federally recognized Indian tribes a categorical advantage over all other applicants in seeking a commercial gaming license in Southeastern Massachusetts.” Bay State lawmakers juiced one, unspecified tribe into one of the state’s three casino licenses. It’s a defensive measure to keep the Mashpee Wampanoags from making an IGRA-based end run around the bill and creating a fourth casino resort in Massachusetts. A Wampanoag casino would preclude one in Boston … and guess who hails from the Bostonian suburb of Dorchester? Sheldon Adelson, that’s who. The litigant, KG Urban Enterprises, specializes in redevelopment. Its pride and joy? Its joint venture partner on that project?
Call me jaded but I sense the not-so-fine hand of Sultan Sheldon at work here, especially since he has a long history of using litigation as a first-strike weapon. The trail of breadcrumbs may stop just short of Las Vegas Sands‘ doorstep but there’s only one degree of separation missing.
