Flandreau Sioux Tribe Suing

The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe is suing the state of South Dakota. They say that Governor Mike Rounds and the other state officials have illegally and unfairly kept the tribe from reaching their full potential. They want to be able to add more slot machines at their casino in Flandreau and the state government is keeping them from being able to do so.

They filed Monday at a federal court in Sioux Falls, and they are asking the judge to require that the state and the tribe come to an agreement on a new compact adding more slot machines. They say that the state has not been negotiating in good faith, and they therefore have the right to ask the government to step in. They say that the government guarantees them the right to equal protection under the law and that South Dakota has not been treating them fairly.

They say that the number of slot machines allowed in Deadwood and elsewhere in the state have greatly increased over the years, whereas the state’s tribes have not been allowed more than 250 slot machines each. They say that not only does this put them at a disadvantage, but that they are being treated unfairly under the law.

They want the state to give them the same privileges that the other places in South Dakota have, and that they want the state to negotiate in good faith which they have not. They want the additional slot machines, and want the federal government to make the state give them to them. They say that the governor will not meet with them to discuss the dispute, so they had to go to the federal court.




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