Maine’s four Wabanaki Nations are asking a federal judge to throw out Oxford Casino’s challenge to the state’s new internet gaming law, arguing the measure is grounded in tribal sovereignty and Maine’s longstanding legal agreements with federally recognized tribes.
The filing is the latest development in a lawsuit over Maine’s Economic Opportunity Act, which Gov. Janet Mills signed earlier this year after a heated debate over online casino gambling. The law authorizes the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Mi’kmaq Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe and Penobscot Nation to each receive one internet gaming license and partner with outside operators.
Oxford Casino, BB Development LLC and Churchill Downs Incorporated sued the state after the law took effect. The casino operators argue Maine created an unconstitutional monopoly by limiting online gaming licenses to the tribes alone. They claim the law violates equal protection protections and the Dormant Commerce Clause by excluding non-tribal businesses, including out-of-state companies.
The tribes rejected those arguments in forceful terms.
“From the Founding to today, the Supreme Court has recognized that tribal nations are sovereign governments, not racial groups,” the motion states. “For equal protection purposes, that means laws like the Act that benefit tribal nations draw political classifications—not racial ones.”
Wabanaki tribes defend Maine law in Oxford Casino lawsuit
The tribes argued federal courts have consistently treated federally recognized tribes as sovereign political entities rather than racial classifications. Because of that distinction, they said the law should be reviewed under the more deferential rational basis standard instead of strict scrutiny.
Their filing also drew attention to Maine’s unusual legal structure under the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act and related agreements approved by Congress in 1980. According to the tribes, those laws established “a unique jurisdictional framework in Maine” that allows the state and tribes to work together on gaming policy.
State officials backed that position in a separate filing, saying Maine’s relationship with the Wabanaki Nations is “nationally unique.”
The tribes said internet gaming revenue would support essential tribal services and strengthen rural economies across the state.
“The law advances state and federal interests by enabling the Nations to fund essential government services,” the tribes wrote. “It also benefits Maine’s rural economies, advances cooperation between the Nations and the State, eases the strain on State finances, promotes a well-functioning internet gaming market, and remedies the historic exclusion of the Nations from gaming opportunities.”
The filing described tribal responsibilities that include police and fire protection, healthcare, housing assistance, schools, transportation projects and water infrastructure work.
The tribes also noted that Oxford Casino and Hollywood Casino still maintain exclusive control over Maine’s brick-and-mortar casino industry. The motion says the new law “does not alter the longstanding monopoly on brick-and-mortar casino gambling in Maine held by Oxford Casino and Hollywood Casino.”
“The Economic Opportunity Act is not such a law,” the tribes wrote. “It does not privilege in-state businesses as against out-of-state competitors. Rather, it privileges federally recognized tribal nations with whom Maine has a distinctive political relationship as against all others, in-state or out.”
Featured image: Wabanaki Alliance logo
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