Jack G. Connors
In 2009, the Department of the Interior acquired land so the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians could build a casino. David Patchak owns land adjacent to the proposed casino and he filed a lawsuit alleging that the acquisition of the land violated federal law. The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians and the federal government asserted the federal Quiet Title Act prohibits lawsuits like this one, which challenge the government’s ownership of Indian trust lands. The U.S. Supreme Court held that the Quiet Title Act did not apply because Patchak asserted the acquisition of the land was unlawful, not that he was the rightful owner of the land.
