Opinion ID: 726058
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Construction Work on Foxwoods

Text: 42 MSG continues to build expansions on the Foxwoods Hotel and Casino. MSG does not contest that the casino operates in and affects interstate commerce. Indeed, a bingo hall and casino [even one on tribal grounds] designed to attract tourists from surrounding states undeniably affects interstate commerce.... United States v. Funmaker, 10 F.3d 1327, 1331 (7th Cir.1993) (citing Katzenbach v. McClung, 379 U.S. 294, 85 S.Ct. 377, 13 L.Ed.2d 290 (1964)). MSG's construction efforts, even though they occur solely on the reservation, have a direct effect on interstate commerce. Cf. Donovan v. S & L Dev. Co., 647 F.2d 14, 18 (9th Cir.1981) (any construction work, regardless of the size or duration of the project, is likely to have an effect on interstate commerce). When a tribal operation affects open markets, it is unlikely that the operation is purely intramural. See Coeur d'Alene, 751 F.2d at 1116 (operation of a farm which employs non-Indians and sells produce in open market does not touch tribal self-governance). 43 These separate tiles--the nature of MSG's work, its employment of non-Indians, and the construction work on a hotel and casino that operates in interstate commerce--when viewed as a whole, result in a mosaic that is distinctly inconsistent with the portrait of an Indian tribe exercising exclusive rights of self-governance in purely intramural matters. See United States Dep't of Labor v. Occupational Safety & Health Comm'n, 935 F.2d at 184 (mill which employs non-Indians and sells wares in channels of interstate commerce not related to exclusive rights of self-governance in purely intramural matters.).