Ho-Chunk demand dismissal of Stockbridge-Munsee lawsuit against the tribe and Wisconsin
MADISON – The Ho-Chunk Nation is demanding that another tribe drop its casino lawsuit, suggesting in a sternly worded letter it may pursue legal penalties if it doesn't do so.
In the letter, Ho-Chunk attorney Lester Marston also raised the possibility of filing defamation lawsuits against officials with the Stockbridge-Munsee Community for public statements that the Ho-Chunk call untrue.
Marston sent the letter Thursday, a day after the Stockbridge sued the Ho-Chunk, the state and Gov. Scott Walker over a planned expansion of a Ho-Chunk casino in Wittenberg. The Stockbridge own a casino in nearby Bowler and say the expanded Ho-Chunk casino would reduce their revenue by millions of dollars a year.
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Thursday's letter underscores just how nasty the legal fight could get.
"If the Band were to go forward with its frivolous causes of action against the Nation, the Band would be subject to sanctions...for filing a frivolous lawsuit," Marston wrote. "If the Nation were to seek sanctions in the form of an award of attorneys’ fees and costs incurred by the Nation in responding to the lawsuit, please be advised that the market rate for this office’s legal services is currently $600 per hour."
He also accused Stockbridge officials of lying about the Ho-Chunk casino and wrote that Stockbridge officials could be sued for defamation.
The Stockbridge have contended they were left with no choice but to sue because Walker's administration sided with the Ho-Chunk.
"We had hoped that Governor Walker and this administration would heed our and other tribes’ requests for fair compact enforcement so that this matter could be resolved without litigation, but we now have no other option," Stockbridge President Shannon Holsey said in a written statement this week.
The Ho-Chunk are in the midst of a $33 million expansion to add a hotel and 250 more slot machines to the Wittenberg casino it opened in 2008.
The Stockbridge contend a casino of any kind is not allowed on the site. Even if one can be located there, it can't be as big as the Ho-Chunk are proposing, the Stockbridge argue.