Detroit News – The future of a small northern Michigan casino took center stage Monday before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that tests the limits of Native American sovereignty.

Michigan Solicitor General John Bursch argued before the justices that the Bay Mills Indian Community, a tribe based in the Upper Peninsula, opened an illegal casino in northern Michigan and that the gaming facility should remain shuttered.

The lawyer for the tribe, Neal Katyal, told the High Court that although the casino was opened off the tribe’s reservation, it should be considered Indian land and therefore immune from Michigan’s lawsuit under tribal sovereignty rules.

The justices peppered the lawyers with questions that centered on jurisdiction and whether tribal immunity extends to a casino operating outside a reservation.

Several justices expressed caution about overturning precedent set by the court that allows Indian tribes to enjoy immunity from lawsuits. They also questioned whether Michigan could have used other means, such as criminal arrests, regulatory measures or arbitration, to stop gambling without asking the court overturn the immunity of a federally-recognized tribe.