On December 12, 2016, S.J. Quinney College of Law Professor Alex Skibine commented on the future of the First Light casino in Taunton, MA. In Wicket Local Taunton story titled, “Trump could be blow to Taunton casino,” Skibine discusses the possible impacts the Trump administration could have on gaming.
University of Utah law professor Alexander Skibine, a former deputy counsel for Indian affairs for the U.S. House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, said a lot will depend on Trump’s pick for interior secretary, reportedly Republican U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington.
And a lot will depend on the timing, he said.
If the Mashpee case moves quickly through the court system before Trump’s picks in the executive branch settle in, then “nothing will change,” said Skibine, who said he doubts the case will be taken up by the Supreme Court and the appeals court ruling will stand.
If, on the other hand, the process grinds along slowly, “The question then becomes if the Trump administration may want to revisit the legal theory underlying the decision to take land into trust and not pursue an appeal,” Skibine said.