Funding for academic legal research is rarely controversial. But an Indian
tribal law center proposed by the dean of the University of Connecticut's School
of Law has created a stir among those afraid that more casinos will be built in
the state.
There is no such institute in the eastern United States, unlike the West, which
has several that are well established, said law school Dean Nell Jessup Newton.
In the East, tribal law can be more complex than in the West. The 13 original
colonies each handled tribal affairs differently, and there is greater variety
from tribe to tribe even today, Newton said.
Connecticut also has two of the wealthiest and most powerful tribes -- the
Mohegans, who own Mohegan Sun casino in Montville and the Mashantucket Pequot
Tribal Nation, which owns Foxwoods Resort & Casino in Ledyard.
"I can't keep up on the issues about Eastern tribes on my own," said
Newton, a tribal law scholar.
But Newton's intention to seek federal funding and support from Indian tribes
for the center has outraged people who have fought against the expansion of
gambling in the state.
"It puts them in hock at worst and raises serious questions at best,"
said state Sen. William Nickerson, R-Greenwich.
The tribes "are in the business of influencing public opinion," he
said.
He said he worries that research done at an institute funded by a tribe will be
influenced by its funding.
Existing Connecticut tribes, and several seeking federal recognition and the
gambling rights that go with it, have spent lots of money already "all with
a view to influence public opinion and the decision-making process in their own
interest," Nickerson said.
If it was not possible to take money without maintaining independent research,
she would not do so, Newton said.
"I have a pretty good reputation as a scholar and I really care about my
integrity and the integrity of the law school," she said.
"Universities get money from corporations all the time -- this is always an
issue."
In addition, the legal center, which would be based at the law school in
Hartford, would not deal with whether tribes should be recognized by the federal
government, but only with laws regarding existing tribes, Newton said.
Professor Bob Anderson, director of The Native American Law Center at the
University of Washington in Seattle, said he takes research grants from tribes,
which in Washington state are required to use some of their gambling proceeds
for research.
"We get a big grant from one of the tribes here. . . . It is an
unconditional gift to us," he said, explaining why the money does not
influence research. "We are law professors and we don't have an ax to grind
one way or the other."
Newton is seeking about $2 million from Congress to start the center and operate
for about four years, he said. It's unlikely that the money will be
appropriated, since so many research projects ask for funding each year, Newton
said. Other endowments, from the tribes for instance, would support the center's
continued operation.
Jeff Benedict, president of The Connecticut Alliance Against Casino Expansion,
criticized the proposed center.
"I think it would be inappropriate to seek any public funds, meaning
taxpayer-financed funds, for a program like this," he said. "This
state happens to be home to the two wealthiest tribes on the planet."
According to Benedict, Newton has been a supporter of tribes seeking
recognition, and argued against efforts by state Attorney General Richard
Blumenthal and others to block more tribe-owned casinos in the state.
While that is her right, it should raise questions about funding a tribal law
center, Benedict wrote in a letter to U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Stonington.
Blumenthal has also spoken out about the proposed center.
"Since tribal recognition petitions depend largely on research and
scholarship into issues relating to individual and group history and descent,
there is a danger that an educational center might become a means for one side
or another to assert its interest," he said.
But recognition is an issue which is dealt with by anthropologists and
historians, Newton said. Legal scholars instead deal with questions of what is
permitted for existing tribes under federal law, she said.
The center could answer questions from political leaders, journalists and
citizens about what tribes can legally do, Newton said.
"People actually believe tribes have the power to take property by eminent
domain if they get recognized," she said.
Meanwhile, two tribes that have had an eye on developing casinos in or near
Fairfield County are awaiting decisions from the federal Bureau of Indian
Affairs on whether they will win sovereign status.
The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation of Kent expects to get a final decision Jan. 29.
The tribe, which wants to build a casino in western Connecticut, got a
preliminary negative decision in December.
The Bridgeport-based Golden Hill Paugussetts, who want to build a casino in
Bridgeport, also are trying to overturn a preliminary negative decision.
