Mashpee’s appeal has been further delayed

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s appeal has been delayed by a federal court, regarding a lawsuit against its casino project in East Taunton.

US.- The First Light Resort & Casino is still entangled in a legal dispute as a federal court has delayed proceedings in the lawsuit against the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s casino project. The litigation was originated by its potential neighbours, who filed a lawsuit anticipating the government’s approval for the new venue.

The litigation emerged as the would-be neighbors of the First Light Resort & Casino argued that the tribe doesn’t qualify for the federal trust land that would allow it to build it. A US District Courtjudge ruled in favor of their claim last year but the tribe immediatly appealed. However, the appeal was put on hold as the US Department of the Interior (DoI) studied a possible claim of the Mashpee’s over the land, which eventually dismissed.

According to Innovate Gaming, as the DoI left its review open in order to assess if the state’s authority could overtake the federal’s government authority over taking land into trust. Recently, the delay has been further pushed as a circuit court judge agreed to continue to delay the lawsuit appeal until after October 30, deadline for possible evidence submitions related to the authority issue.