Ohio gambling and tribal property rights are the subjects of a lawsuit filed by the Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division. However, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported earlier this week that Jim Petro, the Ohio Attorney General, filed a motion to dismiss the complaint filed by the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma who claims property rights to 94,000 acres of land in several counties in Ohio. The complaint, filed earlier this summer, named 61 defendants, including Governor Taft and several state agencies, alleging that the Shawnee tribe was forced from the land in the 1830s.
The Shawnee tribe has been the center of a proposal to bring casinos in Ohio, and has announced plans to build casino resorts in Mahoning, Monroe, Logan, Shelby, Stark and Wayne counties.
In its motion to dismiss, the Attorney General’s Office contends that Ohio was not a party to the treaties signed by the Shawnee tribe more than a century ago to surrender their land. Consequently, "it would be inequitable and unconscionable to allow [the tribe] to set aside property interests of those who have no connection to the treaties at issue."
The Attorney General’s motion to dismiss can be viewed here.