An attempt by two state legislators to obtain a preliminary injunction to halt the expansion of any gambling activities by Native American tribes in New York �- unless approved by the Legislature � has been rebuffed by a state judge in Manhattan.
Acting Justice Louise Gruner Gans last week in Wright v. Pataki, filed in Supreme Court, New York County, IA Part 61, said she was denying Assemblyman Keith L. Wright’s and State Senator Larry B. Seabrook’s request for the injunction because there were questions as to whether the court could proceed in the absence of the St. Regis Mohawk tribe as a party, and whether the legislators had standing to object to the State’s 1993 compact with the tribe that permitted it to open the Askwesasne Mohawk Casino on Mohawk land. She also questioned the legislators’ standing to object to this year’s amendment to the compact, which would permit the Mohawks to conduct gambling on property they intend to acquire near Monticello in Sullivan County.
