From Omaha.com:

Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning has no legal ground to stand on as he tries to halt plans for a casino in Carter Lake, Iowa, federal lawyers say in asking a judge to dismiss the case.

The U.S. Justice Department’s response, filed in U.S. District Court in Iowa, contends that Nebraska has no standing in the Carter Lake case because the Ponca Indian Tribe plans to build a casino outside of Nebraska’s geographic borders.

Federal lawyers also say the National Indian Gaming Commission acted correctly when it granted the Ponca Tribe the right to build a casino on five acres of ground in Carter Lake.

“While the United States appreciates the unique geographical location of Carter Lake, Iowa, it is still located within the State of Iowa,” says the filing, submitted to the Southern District Court of Iowa.

“Allowing Nebraska to challenge activities that occur in Carter Lake . . . simply because it is geographically surrounded by Nebraska, would essentially make the state boundary irrelevant.”

Bruning filed suit in January, challenging a federal ruling that the Ponca could pursue gambling on land they own in Carter Lake, which is between downtown Omaha and Eppley Airfield.

Bruning said the Ponca land “technically” is in Iowa, but Nebraska has legal standing to challenge the ruling because Carter Lake is surrounded by Omaha.

The Missouri River generally serves as the border between Iowa and Nebraska. But the City of Carter Lake, Iowa, is on the Nebraska side of the river because of a 19th century shift in its course.

“If they put a casino there, we’d have to deal with it whether we want to or not,” Bruning said in January. “You could say that’s true about the casinos that are in Council Bluffs now, but you don’t have to go through Nebraska to get to those casinos. There are other ways to get there. Not so in Carter Lake.”

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Indeed – Carter Lake is actually an Iowa island in the sea of Nebraska.

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