The Wisconsin Supreme Court heard arguments today on a lawsuit that aims to end Indian casino gaming in Wisconsin.
A lawyer for a dog track in Kenosha says Indian casinos violate Wisconsin's constitution, and they've been in violation since 1998. The lawyer for Dairyland Greyhound Park says Governor Doyle and former Governor Tommy Thompson violated the law when they renewed gaming compacts in 2003 and 1998.
He claims a 1993 constitutional amendment that banned certain kinds of gaming came too late to stop the first gaming compacts in 1992. But he says the Governors should not have renewed the compacts later.
Assistant Attorney General, and lawyer for the state, Thomas Bellavia says, “We’re saying they may be permitted today because they were authorized by a pre-existing compact as sanctioned by federal law.”
Meanwhile he says, "The governor failed to carry out the will of the people in both 1998 and 2003.
The Supreme Court heard arguments on this same case in 2004, but the court deadlocked at 3-3. Since that time the court took on a new member, so they are expected to reach a decision in a couple months.
