Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Files Motion to Delay Land Into Trust Lawsuit

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell

MASHPEE – Attorneys for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe filed a motion this week to delay action on a lawsuit that challenges a decision putting land into trust in Mashpee and Taunton.

The brief was filed in a federal appeals court to halt any movement on the pending case in U.S. District Court in Boston

The action was taken to give the Department of the Interior time to decide on the tribe’s revised record of decision.

The Wampanoags are looking to build a casino resort in Taunton and have been wrapped up in a legal challenge after the Interior Department placed more than 170 acres into trust in both Taunton and Mashpee in 2015.

Opponents challenged the decision in federal court in Boston and won an initial lawsuit on the matter, halting construction on the casino.

The tribe is appealing that decision and is hoping a revised record of decision is forthcoming.

Earlier this month, the tribe said a court decision involving a Washington State tribe was a positive development for their plans to build a resort casino in Taunton.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied to hear a challenge to the Cowlitz tribe’s casino project, upholding a lower court’s decision allowing the Interior Department to place land-into-trust on the tribe’s behalf.

With the land-into-trust designation now secure, that tribe can now pursue their casino efforts.

Mashpee Chairman Cedric Cromwell said the Cowlitz decision paves the way forward for their $1 billion First Light Casino.

“The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision blazes a trail forward for Mashpee,” said Cromwell in a statement earlier this month.

“The time to cut the red tape is here,” Cromwell added. “We are ready to deliver thousands of jobs, tens of millions of dollars in critical traffic infrastructure improvements, and hundreds of millions of dollars toward urban renewal.”