S.C. AG Balks at Video Poker Claim

As reported by the Rock Hill Herald: "State Attorney General Henry McMaster has balked at the Catawba Indian Nation's claims that the tribe can legally have video poker on its York County reservation.

"Video poker is illegal in South Carolina, and the dispute sets up a potential landmark trial later this year.

"The Catawbas, the state's only federally recognized tribe, have threatened to bring back video poker for years. In its July lawsuit, the tribe claimed the lottery has damaged its Rock Hill bingo business, guaranteed by the 1993 state and federal land-claim settlement. Video poker was outlawed in 2000, yet the tribe maintains that it is exempt from that state law under the settlement.

"…McMaster acknowledges there is a dispute between the state and the Catawbas over the interpretation of the settlement, but in court documents filed recently gives no ground…"