Professor Robert Clinton of the College’s Indian Legal Program, was interviewed recently by AZ-TV 7 about a controversial tribal proposal to build a casino in Glendale.

In 2009, the Tohono O’odham Tribe made plans to construct a casino on land in Glendale that they acquired through a congressional act that was a result of damage done to their land by a dam.

First, the tribe would have to get the chosen land taken into trust, which has been opposed by the City of Glendale, Arizona, Governor Jan Brewer and other tribes in Arizona. Clinton said this is due in part to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which generally prohibits the acquiring of new land for casinos.

Next, he said, the proposal would have to qualify under the very limited circumstances listed in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

“A large number of tribes have announced these kinds of plans,” Clinton said. “I think in the history of the Act, only five of them have ever succeeded.”

To see the interview, click here.

Clinton teaches and writes about federal Indian law, tribal law, Native American history, constitutional law, federal courts, cyberspace law, copyrights and civil procedure. He is an Affiliated Faculty member of the ASU American Indian Studies Program. He also is a Faculty Fellow in the Center for Law, Science & Innovation.