Court Digest

Arkansas
Court upholds judge’s ruling voiding Cherokee Nation’s license to build casino
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a judge’s decision to void the casino license issued to the Cherokee Nation by a panel, setting up a new round of applications for the last of four casinos voters have approved.

In a 5-2 ruling, justices agreed with a Pulaski County judge who struck down the license issued in 2021 to Cherokee Nation Businesses, and Legends Resort and Casino — the company set up by the Cherokee Nation — to build a casino in Pope County.

Pope County was one of four sites where casinos were allowed to be built under a constitutional amendment that voters approved in 2018. Casinos have already been set up in the other three locations, but the Pope County license has been tied up in ongoing legal battles.

Justices ruled that the 2018 amendment did not give the commission authority to issue a license jointly to Legends and Cherokee Nation Businesses.

“Nowhere in the text does it allow for joint or dual licensing to more than one applicant,” the court ruled.

The state said it was reviewing the decision and preparing for a new round of applications.

“(The Department of Finance and Administration) will be working with the Arkansas Racing Commission to open a new application window in a timely manner,” Trent Minner, administrator of DFA’s Regulatory Division, which includes the Arkansas
Racing Commission, said in a statement. “We will work with the commission to ensure all legal requirements of Amendment 100 are fulfilled and that the process is carried out in compliance with Arkansas law.”

Cherokee Nation Businesses, which had already purchased more than 325 acres (hectares) for the casino project, said it was disappointed in the decision and said it remained committed to becoming the casino operator.

Mississippi-based Gulfside Casino Partnership, a competing applicant, had filed the lawsuit challenging the license.

Gulfside had been issued a license for the casino in 2020, but that license was voided after the state Supreme Court said it needed to have the endorsement of current elected officials in the area. The Gulfside application had been submitted with the backing of Pope County’s former judge.

Illinois
Jury indicts man on hate crime, murder charges in attack on Muslim mom, son
JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — A man accused of murder, attempted murder and a hate crime in an attack on a Palestinian-American woman and her son was indicted Thursday by an Illinois grand jury.

The eight-count indictment against Joseph Czuba, 71, tracks the charges that were filed soon after the fatal stabbing of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, and the wounding of Hanaan Shahin on Oct. 14. Authorities said the victims were targeted because of their Muslim faith.

Shahin told police that Czuba, her landlord in Plainfield in Will County, was upset over the Israel-Hamas war and attacked them after she had urged him to “pray for peace.”

Shahin, 32, is recovering from multiple stab wounds. Hundreds of people attended her son’s funeral on Oct. 16.

The murder charge in the indictment against Czuba describes the boy’s death as the result of “exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior.”

Defense attorney George Lenard has said he won’t comment on the case outside court. Czuba, who is in jail, is expected to return to court Monday in Joliet, 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Chicago.

Earlier this week, Shahin issued a statement through the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. She asked the public to “pray for peace” and said her son was her best friend.