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Casino lawsuit sent to federal court
12/1/04 Siuslaw News, Florence, Oregon An anti-casino lawsuit will be moved from state court to federal court under a recent ruling. A lawsuit launched in March by People Against a Casino Town against the state hopes to show that Governor Ted Kulongoski acted contrary to the state Constitution by allowing casinos to operate in Oregon. PACT spokesman Arnold Buchman said he had no idea what advantage the governor hoped to gain with the change of venue and said the state is waging a war of attrition against the citizen group. "I can't conceive what advantage the state has with the case sitting in federal court instead of state court," Buchman said of the group's third lawsuit. "On the contrary, I would think they would want the case decided by the state. "The federal court is loathe to interpret a state statute, especially if it hasn't yet been considered by the state (court). This is setting up a situation where the federal court would be deciding what the Oregon Constitution says. In these types of cases, the feds will often go to the state Supreme Court and ask for an advisory opinion." He characterized the move as procedural foot-dragging in hope of preventing the case from being heard. "The governor has once again succeeded in pulling us into a procedural thicket and we are still no closer to having an answer in the case," Buchman said. Also see: |
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