McCann opposes tribal gaming extensions

Doyle's deals are unconstitutional, DA tells high court in brief

By STEVE SCHULTZE sschultze@journalsentinel.com, Journal Sentinel

Thursday, July 17, 2003

Wisconsin's constitution bars the casino gambling expansions that have been negotiated between Gov. Jim Doyle and nine Wisconsin Indian tribes, Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann said Wednesday.

McCann made the declaration in a legal brief, which urged the state Supreme Court to take up a case filed by Republican leaders of the state Legislature. Their lawsuit seeks to invalidate the new gambling deals, which open the door to craps, roulette and other previously banned games.

The new compacts also remove betting limits and other restrictions, and call for tribes to make larger payments to the state from casino proceeds.

McCann, a longtime opponent of gambling, said a 1993 amendment to the state constitution outlawed the casino games that the new compacts allow. Doyle and tribal attorneys have said the new games are not banned by the amendment because the new games are amendments to tribal gambling pacts originally made in 1992.

In an interview, McCann said that, if the court agreed with his stance, the only games permitted in tribal gambling halls would be high-stakes bingo, raffles and types of games that do not go beyond the traditional definition of a lottery.

McCann, a Democrat, said gambling is bad for Wisconsin because it preys on the poor, hurts families of gambling addicts and can lead to unhealthy political influence by gambling interests.

McCann singled out Doyle for his role in legalizing casinos in the state. He said that Doyle's arguments for gambling, when acting as attorney general, became a key basis for a federal court ruling that the state lottery opened the door to casino games.

"It would be ironic if the mistaken opinion of one person in this state could bind the state perhaps forever to having gambling in contravention to the state constitution," McCann wrote.

Dan Leistikow, a spokesman for Doyle, disagreed.

"Gambling exists in Wisconsin, and nearly every other state in the country, not because of something Governor Doyle did, but because of the actions of the United States Congress," said Leistikow, referring to the 1988 federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which is a centerpiece of current federal American Indian gambling policy.

Leistikow called the lawsuit a waste of taxpayer money, and said that, if the court sides with McCann, "it would create a $200 million hole in the (state) budget." $200 million is the sum tribes would pay the state under the terms of the new compacts.

Martin Schreiber, a spokesman for the Forest County Potawatomi tribe -- which is planning an expansion of its Milwaukee casino -- declined to comment on McCann's brief, saying tribal lawyers had not reviewed it.

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