BOSTON (AP) - The state of Massachusetts and a Martha’s Vineyard town are appealing a court decision that could pave the way for a Native American tribe to build a casino on the resort island.
The appeal filed in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal in Boston this week asks the panel to reconsider a decision handed down earlier this month.
The appeals court had reversed a lower court decision by concluding, in part, that the federally-recognized Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe exercised sufficient government powers on its lands to be considered a sovereign tribal nation that can conduct certain gambling under federal law.
The tribe wants to turn an unfinished community center into a gambling hall with hundreds of electronic betting machines.
Tribal Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais dismissed the appeal as last-ditch procedural efforts.
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