You recently editorialized about an earlier piece written by Frank Parlato concerning the inequality between Indian-owned and operated businesses and those non-Indian businesses trying to compete.
In your editorial, you posed questions about how this unfair advantage enjoyed by Indian tribal businesses could be remedied. The solution to this problem was directly addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1998 case titled “Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma vs. Manufacturing Technologies Inc. (523 U.S. 721).
In that case, a unanimous nine-judge court concluded that the court-created doctrine of legal and tax immunity for Indian tribes was created in a 1921 case for entirely different purposes and to protect small, dependent and nascent Indian tribes.
The justices reasoned that in this day and age, when Indian tribes and tribal governments own and operate huge business empires and huge and varied multi-million dollar corporate holdings, that application of this immunity doctrine in such cases, was clearly an improper anachronism.
In the end, however, six of the nine justices of the court opined that the problem these court cases created by allowing Indian tribal immunity to e extended to these business enterprises, should be fixed by Congress.
Justice Stevens, writing for the three judge minority, put it succinctly saying: “Why should an Indian tribe have greater immunity than the United States, all the several states and every foreign sovereign nation?”
The court did not stop at that point, however, and they suggested a simple solution to Congress in order to eliminate this unfair business largesse’. They suggested that Congress amend the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act to include Indian tribes and their business enterprises. That federal law provides that any foreign sovereign nation like France, England, Japan or Costa Rica, who did business in this country, with this country or with any citizen of this country, is obligated to obey all federal, state and local laws, pay all the same taxes and is amenable to be sued in all the courts of the land for their misdeeds just like every other domestic busines.
That case was decided 10 years ago, and Congress has done nothing.
There are two primary reasons for this. First, it has been politically incorrect to curb any activities of Indian tribes, even when their true identity is suspect or they are nothing but a front for other non-Indian busines empires.
The second reason is that the vast sums of money available through gambling casinos and resulting from legal and tax-immunized businesses, allow cotributions to be made to Congressmen and senators, lobbyists and their ilk, invitably has prevented any ovement in Congress to fix this incredibly unfair advantage.
It cannot be overlooked in this contet that the landmark McCain/Feingold federal campaign reform, reporting and Contribution Limitation Act conspicuously omits any limitation on Indian tribal contributins to politicians, thus ensuring that nothing is likey to be done to limit tribal business exploitation of this outdated sovereign immunity doctrine to the detriment of other non-Indian businesses.
James E. Marino is an attorney in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Columns
GUEST VIEW: Congress is key to business equality in Falls
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GLYNN: VFW post keeps spirit alive
At one time, members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars-Post 313 would march down Main Street in Youngstown on Memorial Day to the 1812 Cemetery near Old Fort Niagara. That same scenario out of the past occurred for decades in cities, towns and villages across the U.S.
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HAMILTON: Dandelions, parades, broken poles and people
There are still those remnants of the fading bouquets of floral tributes that still hang at that base of a tree on city hall’s lawn. It is near where, last year, from his shiny silvery cart, Melvin Johnson sold hot dogs and sausages to both city employees and passerbys while his tiny white dog excitingly yelped at anyone that came near.
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GLYNN: Gillibrand seeks help for prime bread-winners
A recent report shows that working mothers across the Empire State earn nearly 15 percent lower pay for the same work as men.
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BRADBERRY: There really are spirits in the water
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CONFER: The reality of rationed health care
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CITY DESK: A regrettable error
We owe Carol Sensabough an apology.
Several weeks ago, the long-time reader and Niagara Falls resident sent a letter to the editor explaining that she took offense to some of the things written by a syndicated columnist, Stephen Dick. -
HIGGS: Niagara Falls' own West Side story
Trusello’s Bakery was on Elmwood behind the family home at 840 19th St. The family, Richard, William (Billy) and Sam along with two sisters, lived in the house.
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GLYNN: Falls, Ont., rolls out red carpet for Wallenda
Before Nik Wallenda even started practicing his high-wire routine in downtown Niagara Falls, state Sen.George D. Maziarz, R-Newfane, had noted the warm welcome the tightrope walker received across the river.
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HAMILTON: Civic ‘ParticipAction’ can work too
Back in the 1970s, our Neighbors to the North ran a national campaign called ParticipAction to encourage Canadians to get off their butts and do things for the sakes of their bodies.
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