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Gambler Challenging Connecticut Tribal Court System

"Vasilios Milios, a 67-year-old Greek immigrant and burger joint owner in Oxford, has waged a four-year legal battle with Foxwoods Resort Casino. But he's lost every step of the way, so now he's turned to U.S. District Court in Boston. Milios claims he should have won $158,000 at a Foxwoods poker table in September 1998. Casino managers, however, say Milios failed to make his final bet, and disqualified his winning hand.

"But after losing in the Mashantucket Pequot tribal court system, Milios and his attorney hope their lawsuit in federal court will force the overturn of federal legal precedent that protects tribal courts' sovereignty.

"…The 1968 Indian Civil Rights Act granted `sovereign immunity' to Indian reservations and allowed them to create their own legal systems.

"Tribal appeals courts have final say in most matters and their rulings cannot be challenged in state or federal courts.

"…UCLA law professor and legal analyst Carole Goldberg said Milios is likely to have a tough fight.

"`Just finding you don't like how justice is administered in a particular reservation is not enough,' she said. `Unless he's far more clever than I imagine, he'll have a problem.'…"

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