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After state court decisions called the Oneida Nation's gaming compact, signed by Gov. Mario Cuomo in 1993, into doubt under state law, the U.S. Department of Interior decided to "review" the compact to determine whether it was still valid. The state courts had held, some ten years after the fact, that gubernatorial agreement to the compact was insufficient to bind the state; instead, state legislative approval was required.

On June 13, Interior Department Associate Deputy Secretary James Cason issued a decision that the compact is valid. The letter explains that under IGRA, a negotiated compact becomes valid upon publication in the Federal Register of the Interior Secretary's approval (including approval under IGRA's "pocket approval" provision: if the Secretary fails to either approve or disapprove within 45 days, the compact will be considered approved). See 25 U.S.C. section 2710(d)(8). Any challenge to a duly approved compact must be made in accordance with the federal Administrative Procedure Act within six years of the publication of the Secretary's approval. The letter states, "Since no one challenged the Secretary's decision in a timely manner or in the proper forum, the 1993 Compact continues to be in effect for purposes of the IGRA."

The Interior Department's decision appears to recognize that federal law should trump state law under these circumstances, even if that "trumping" in this case amounts to a technical statue of limitations. Kathryn's article, "Caught in the Middle: How State Politics, State Law, and State Courts Constrain Tribal Influence Over Indian Gaming," which appears in the current issue of the Marquette Law Review, speaks directly to the issue of state court invalidation of duly negotiated and approved gaming compacts.

Access the Interior Department letter through the link provided here by the Utica Observer Dispatch.