Since that time the members of the city council that approved the controversial MSA have been recalled and replaced and the tribe has received a lands determination from the Federal Gov’t which appears to give tribe the right to game on 229 acres in and around the city of Plymouth. Amador County has also filed legal action over the recent land determination opinion as well. The modification, filed May 10th, states that a footnote that was placed in the original opinion should be struck. That footnote states that the Secretary of the interior is required to consult with local officials to determine that acquisition of trust lands would not be detrimental to the surrounding community. This is not correct and the Secretary has no duty to do so.

The second modification strikes three paragraphs of the initial opinion and replaces those three with just one paragraph. The original passage used the word “perverts” in reference to the city’s support of the casino project and how the support or lack of support has consequences for the process being pursued by the tribe.  The sentence in the original opinion states “While the development of a gaming facility may not be legally dependent on the city’s support in the form of a letter of approval, it perverts reality to assert that the City’s support has no consequences for the process being pursued by the tribe.

The new sentence, that replaces the old phraseology, states that it is “unrealistic to assert that the city’s support has no consequences for the process being pursued by the tribe”. All references to the “landless request” by the tribe to the Federal Government and the Secretary of the Interior have been removed from this section. In its place the court addresses only the MSA and how that does or does not indicate support by the city for the tribe’s endeavors. According to Assistant County Counsel Greg Gillott these changes do not change the material facts of the case. He emphasizes that most importantly, although these changes do address some of the issues brought up by the tribe’s legal counsel in their request for rehearing on the matter- that request was denied. This means the court’s decision is final and will not change states Gillott. The next step for the tribe would be an appeal to the California State Supreme Court.