Froma Harrop: Casinos Take Money From States

» JAX wrote on 11.16.09 @ 08:48 AM

The writer neglects to point out that the vast majority of new gambling casinos being built and operated all over the country are by Indian “tribes” many of which are not real Indian tribes at all, some so called “tribes” with as few as one or two members. (California now has 60 casinos with another 20 or so being proposed, so far!)

These “Indian” casinos are the product of an ill concieved federal law giving “Indian tribes” the exclusive right to own an operate gambling casinos in states that do not allow casino gambling, like California. Wealthy non-Indian gambling investors find ersatz “Indian” bands or tribes most often comprised of a handful of people with some claim (maybe) to a fractional descent from a real Indian decades ago (if there is any ancestry at all).

These so called “tribes” obtain land near large urban markets, which land, until recently, could be easily trasferred into federal Indian trust status in order to build a casino. Fee to trust transfers are made by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Interior.  (both these federal agencies are dominated by “Indians”, or most often part Indians and wanna-be Indians all because of a federal mandatory hiring law)

These casino ventures are then pitched to local communities as a done deal under federal law, and unless the local community gives it’s approval the developers threaten to give them nothing from the anticip[ated and lucrative spoils of the gambling casino when it is built.

They make these threats because Indian casinos and any related “Indian” business venture cannot be taxed by state and local authorities. Therefor states and local economies will get no properety tax, sales tax, bed tax, state and local income taxes, corporate tax, personal property taxes and other revenues needed to pay for the added public services and infrastructure they must provide to these “Indian” casinos and businesses.

To add to this ironic foolishness, these “Indian” casinos and businesses can operate without complying with the hundreds of state and local laws enacted to protect customers who are injured, cheated, harassed, discriminated against, etc.  Also all the laws that were enacted to protect workers from injury, discrimination, exploitation, wrongful termination, etc. Even the laws enacted to protect the environment and quality of life in every community.

Besides being immune from most laws no federal or state agency effectively polices these “Indian” casinos so they are essentially a lawless no-man’s land where there are no legal rights at all. A court created (common law) doctrine gives “Indian” casinos and other businesses immunity from all lawsuits, so they, their employees, agents and officers cannot be sued for damages no matter how outrageous their conduct is.

Lastly gambling casinos create a host of social problems like increased crime, bankruptcy and credit problems, divorce and family neglect, gambling addictions, increased drug and alcohol abuse, traffic, polution, even suicides.

The writer is correct that these casinos do nothing but suck money from the local economy and from people living within an hour or two drive of the casino.  The relatively few low paying jobs created after the construction is completed, do not generate anywhere near enough money to cover the added costs to the community in demands for services and infrastructure that governments are required to provide to them without the ability to impose taxes to pay for them.

Agreements made with “Indian” tribes to pay something to defer these costs are notoriously ineffective because the tribes cannot be sued, and waivers of immunity are like a sieve with a million ways to evade them. Then there is overarching fact that local governments must use tax monies to sue “tribes” and their businesses to enforce such agreements while the tribe has a fat war chest filled with the millions of dollars amassed from the losses of gamblers, most of whom cannot afford to lose that money in the first place!

In addition these “tribes” refuse to allow any inspectioin of the books or other means to verify any income based payments to be made in lieu of the taxes they don’t pay or to verify any so called expenses incurred before calculating net revenue. Similarly they refuse to allow inspections of the gambling devices and games, even the kitchen and food processing to insure sanitary conditions exist.

So beyond the valid points this writer makes in her article, that is, that gambling casinos do virtually nothing to help state and particularly local economies, “Indian” casinos create a lawless, untaxable legal and social cancer in every community in which they are located.  So before turning to any form of gambling to solve budget problems, state and local governments better understrand the differences between the kind of highly regulated casinos, like those found in Las Vegas and lawless, unpoliced and legally immune “Indian” casinos!

» JAX wrote on 11.16.09 @ 03:27 PM

One good starting point would be to read the two Time Magazine stories published in December 2002 concerning Indian casinos. In the article the writer describes MaryAnn Martin, a woman of mixed ancestry, who was the only member of the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians.  There were two others, her brothers, who were both shot and killed in a drive by shooting in an apparent drug deal gone bad.

As THE tribe she recieved 0ver 480,000 in federal grant and welfare funds over a two year period for “tribal housing”, “tribal economic development”, “tribal government” and until she partnered with a Las Vegas Corporation to build a casino near Palm Springs, she also recieved 1.1 million dollars a year from the state held, revenue sharing trust fund, paid into by other casino gambling tribes and distributed annually to tribes without any casino or operating one with less than 300 slot machines.

Another California example would be the so called Buena Vista Band of Me-Wuk Indians, a “tribe” carved out of whole cloth so to speak, by DonnaMarie Potts, an enrolled member of the Maidu tribe of Indians who was never a Me-Wuk or a resident of the former Rancheria known as Buena Vista. She is trying to build a casino on ineligible fee lands at Buena Vista California just outside of Sacramento with the backing of a New York based Shopping center magnate named Wilmot.

Then there is the Valley Miwoks, a tribe of three until recently when the two enrolled female members kicked the male member (Yakima Charlie) out of the tribe.  The three were dividing up the 1.1 million a year from the revenue sharing trust fund for non-casino tribes along with about $400,000 in federal grant and welfare monies each year. I guess the two “ladies” weren’t satisfied with the split so they disenrolled Yakima Charlie.  They too are seeking a gambling casino.

Then there is the Ione Band of Miwok Indians.  A splinter group (Franklin group) that broke away from the 40 person main tribal entity ( the historic Villa group) to form another group and began enrolling lots of new “members”, many who were employees of the Sacramento (Pacific Region) offices of the BIA. 

This was done because the splinter group wanted to build a casino at Plymouth, California and the historic tribe did not. Once the splinter group packed the enrollment they seized power and have been trying to build a gambling casino at Plymouth, California ever since.

There are many more of these former Rancheria Indian descendants (or “Indian claimants”) seeking to build casinos mostly on lands that are not eligible for casinos but their non-Indian investors and lobbyists have been paying off politicians and bureaucrats to “grease the wheels” and pave the way given the lucrative profits to be had from a gambling casino.

Probably the grandaddy of all the scams, if you are really interested in what a corrupt morass this “Indian” gambling is, you should read Jeff Benedict’s book “Without Reservation”. It chronicles how Chip Hayward, an afro-American man parlayed a claim to be a 1/34th descendant of a Pequote woman (who turned out to actually be a Naragansette Indian) into the Billion dollar a year Foxwood casino, one of the largest in the world, located at Ledyard, Connecticut, and being operated by the now greatly expanded “tribe” called the Mashantucket Pequotes.

The Chumash in Santa Ynez are a hodge podge of different ethnicities some of whom do have a fractional connection to real Chumash Indians, many who don’t.  They were given the land on which they now have the casino by the Catholic Church in 1934 and those who considered themselves descendants of the Indians who lived near the Mission well prior to that time, migrated there to live. There are no living members of the original five families who were the “Mission Indians” of Santa Ynez.

The land is not a reservation and is not in held in federal Indian trust and is therefor inelligible for the class III gambling being offered there now.

This group actually began operating an illegal casino in 1995 when they moved in 800 slot machines and began operating them along with blackjack and other class III gambling games.  They successfuly operated this illegal casino until 1998 when state and federal authorities finally and seriously threatened to arrest them, seize all the equipment and monies etc. This illegal casino was being operated along with the several other illegal casinos around California who were also illegally offering class III gambling games.

Having exhausted a number of frivolous law suits delaying closure, they (all the gambling and wanna-be gambling “Indians”) circulated an initiative called proposition 5 which was placed on the November 1998 ballot.

Gray Davis was also on that ballot as a candidate for Governor.  The illegal casino tribes gave him over $8,000,000 million dollars for his campaign and spent many more millions promoting prop. 5 depicting poor barefoot Indians standing by ramshackle sheds and hovels who needed casinos for jobs. When that initiative passed these casino and wanna-be casino tribes (59 in all) secretly negotiated the current tribal-state compacts with governor Davis in order to open and operate Las Vegas style casinos without paying taxes and without obeying state laws or other requirements that could have and should have been imposed by the compact terms.

In August 1999 the California Supreme Court ruled Prop. 5 was unconstitutional because it only amended the State’s Government Code and the prohibition against casino gambling was in Art. 4 section 19 of the State Constitution.  Undaunted, governor Davis executed the 59 compacts without any Constitutional authority and had the democratically controlled Legislature approve them. Members and politicians who had been taking, (and still take) huge political contributions from these “Indian” casino tribes were only too happpy to go along with this scandalous deal!

To solve the illegality of these 1999 compacts the Legislature placed a Legislative initiative on the March 2000 ballot called prop. 1A which amended the Constitution to authorize the governor to negotiate tribal-state class III gambling cmpacts with Indian tribes in the future. Prop. 1A never informed the voters that they were, in effect, ratifying the give-away sweetheart compacts already signed by the governor back in October 1999 and approved by the Legislature.

Through this political manuevering all of the main power forces in the state and the will of the people were subverted.  Local governments, law enforcement agencies, womens groups, the Sierra Club and other environmental groups, the consumer protection groups, unions, workers’ compenasation attorneys, taxpayer organizations, etc. etc. were all excluded from the tribal compact process and had no input regarding the terms.
That is why we have the ridiculous give-away, sweetheart compacts in place today.

Ironically very few of these “Indians” work in the casinos that were supposed to provide “jobs for tribal members” and stop welfare dependancy. I think in the case of the 152 member Santa Ynez Chumash there are only two (2) members who work there.  The rest of the enrolled members simply cash their $45,000 a month per capita profit checks (i.e. $500,000 dollars a year) payed for by the losses of the casino gamblers, most of whom cannot afford to lose that money!

In addition the tribe still recieves over $2,000,000 a year in federal welfare and grant monies, EVERY YEAR. They pays no state income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, corporate taxes, bed taxes personal property taxes or any other taxes that are needed to pay for the huge demands they and their casino and businesses place on public services and infrastrucure which they use regularly and which are payed for by the non-Indian taxpayers of this community.

The list is endless but I will leave you with the Oneida tribe of New York who bought some land and tried to declare it to be “sovereign Indian lands”. They then built the Turning Stone casino offering class III gambling (slot machines, Craps, blackjack, roulette, etc.) In order to have class III gambling under the Indian Gaming and Regulatory Act the tribal casino must be on Indian lands as defined in the IGRA.

The City of Sherrill New York, being cheated out of tax monies for the services and infrastructure costs by the Oneidas, took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. That court held the land WAS NOT Indian lands and thus was not elligible for any class III gambling activities.  In addition the New York Supreme Court declared the purported tribal-state compact was illegal because it was never approved by the legislature as required by state law state and which legality is required by the IGRA, 25 USC 2710 d (3).

The bottom line is, that no one has done anything about this illegal casino at Turning Stone because no state or federal agency has the guts to enforce the laws and tribes, such as the Oneida routinely thumb there collective noses at the applicable laws.  Picking up on this void, the Florida Seminoles have recently begun operating illegal class III gambling games figuring that if the New York Oneida can get away with running illegal games, they can do it too.

Space constrains me from giving you much more information as you requested here concerning the numerous negative impacts of Indian casinos on host communities and the rampant corruption in “Indian” gambling casinos! The most recent case of breach of an agreement is the Oregon town of Florence suing the Three Rivers Casino for failing to pay for sewer and other services provded under the existing MOU.  There are many other breaches of agreements by tribal governments such as the Nebraska case of Vision Church Builders versus The Omaha tribe of Nebraska or the recent Washington case of the Marshal Bank of Minn. versus the Nooksack tribe of Demming Wa.

» DannyK wrote on 11.16.09 @ 06:32 PM

I thought the rules say no discriminatory language? How did the moderator approve the racist post of “JAX”?

» Steve wrote on 11.17.09 @ 08:01 AM

In our small community in eastern San Diego County, we have 3 large tribal casinos. All have been very good neighbors. They’ve provided thousands and thousands of well-paying jobs with benefits. I know many business owners who thrive by being being vendors for at least one of the casinos. We wouldn’t even have Little League at all if not for the support from one of the tribes. We wouldn’t have some of the excellent restaurants and shopping in our area if not for their developments. Overall, I have to say they’ve been great for our economy and area in general. We go there from time to time to play the slots a bit…but also for concerts and dinner. And shopping (my wife loves the shops). And there doesn’t seem to be the anti-Indian bias or resentment that I read in this article and, especially, the online posts. I was one of the voters who voted for the propositions legalizing indian casinos. Voters approved it and, no, they were not stupid or ill-informed. In exchange for billions to the state, the tribes have created economic engines for themselves, local communities and the state overall. Seems like its been working OK ... at least from our perspective in this area, where we have the 3 local indian casinos. There are several more in our county, but I haven’t been to them.

» Marcy wrote on 11.17.09 @ 03:32 PM

In 2004-2005 Seminole Tribe billed FEMA for 2.5 million for hurricane expenses. 2.5 million so their tribal members could stay at the Hard Rock and drink alcohol and eat expensive steak dinners while the hurricane passed. They even billed FEMA for valet services! When Hurrican Frances hit Florida, the tribe billed FEMA for $12,000.00, the cost of moving their helicopters and airplane. They made 1.1 BILLION in revenue that year so it’s not like they couldnt afford to pay for their own alcohol, pay per view movies, and valet parking. This took money away from the tax paying citizens that were homeless and living in shelters after losing everything they had to a hurricane.

» DannyK wrote on 11.17.09 @ 08:47 PM

The racism is obvious in his use of quotes around the work Indian implying somehow that they are not Native Americans. Ditto with his comments about “Chip Hayward” (I think he means Skip Hayward). I like how he makes up numbers out of thin air and posts them as fact with nothing to back it up. A lot of it sounds like the garbage Steve Wynn and Donald Trump were peddling back when they wanted the State of Conn. to let them open casinos in Hartford. “They don’t look like Indians to me.” Maybe JAX is The Donald or Steve Wynn.

» JAX wrote on 11.18.09 @ 08:23 AM

DannyK;

You immediately choose to play the race card when confronted with ugly facts you and your biased outlook do not want to hear.

The use of the quotes around the word “Indian” is because there is no definition of what an Indian is.  In many cases, particularly in California, these so called “Indians” are persons of various ethnic backrounds who then claim to have an ancestor that makes them a fractional descendant, like the 1/34th Indian heritage of Skip Hayward and his “Mashantucket Pequote tribe” in Connecticut.

The use of some other fractional connection to an “Indian” or tribal entity has become a major scam. [You should put down your “racist rant” and read Jeff Benedict’s book “Without Reservation” for some insight as to how this game is played for gambling profits)

Let me ask you this DannyK, if you are 1/2 German, 1/4 Quarter Irish, 1/8th Mexican and 1/8th Commanche, are you an “Indian” ???

You are likely one of those people that do not want to ask questions like that for fear of being “politically incorrect” and offending someone even when that person or group is using “Indian” to scam their way into a gambling casino or to evade the laws of the land, or pay the taxes everyone else has to pay.

Despite what you may have heard in some college class or from some pro-“Indian” activist, the fact is, under current federal Indian policy, an “Indian” is whoever the tribe or band says is an “Indian” and a tribe is whoever the Bureaucrats at the “Indian” dominated Bureau of Indian Affairs, say is tribe, a band or community of “Indians” in a process they call “acknowledgement” or recognition.  That is why we have “tribes” of one or two people who’s descendancy, (if there is any at all) from any real Indian is some kind of minute fraction or a product of mistake or even blatant corruption. (You should read the scathing 2006 U. S. Solicitor General’s investigative report concerning the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Interior!

Moreover, if you ever saw the kind of “record keeping” and census taking of Native American Indians undertaken by the federal government a hundred or so years ago, you would understand just how ridiculous these issue are. 

But then for decades these matters were never deemed very important to anyone because, other than federal welfare and grant money payments being made to Indians and Indian tribes, most people knew nothing about these issues or flatly did not care. It was only the advent of Indian casino gambling and the activities of non-Indian investors seeking to spread casino gambling far beyond Nevada and Atlantic City into every market in America, that have brought these kind of issues to the forefront.

I am sorry that you don’t want to hear the facts and want to dismiss them with either naive’ or calculated cries of “racism” in order to hide the truth or to be “politically correct”, but facts are facts !!!

» Wayne wrote on 11.18.09 @ 11:24 AM

I wonder if Jax would be complaining if he was 1/8 Indian or if he would just be quietly collecting his checks.

» DannyK wrote on 11.18.09 @ 03:59 PM

JAX is just upset that the US attempts at totally wiping Native Americans off the face of the earth weren’t successful. Fortunately, some with part Indian ancestry kept their tribes alive. That they are allowed to determine who is and isn’t an Indian upsets JAX as he would like white folks to be able to say who is and isn’t. As far as the Seminole casino being illegal, I suggest you look at the signed compact they negotiated with the governor and got approved. Federal law requires the state to negotiate in good faith. If they want to declare the Seminole casino illegal, it sounds like the State of Florida was not negotiating in good faith.

» Mom wrote on 11.19.09 @ 05:29 AM

Danny,

    Don’t be late for your shift at Hard Rock! Quit hiding behind that invalid compact. We both know that is bs. Just because the tribe doesn’t get exactly what they want doesn’t mean that the state didn’t negotiate in god faith.

» Mom wrote on 11.19.09 @ 09:29 AM

I don’t understand why people don’t see this! Wake up, people!!It’s only going to get worse. Obama is already bending over for them

» Wayne wrote on 11.19.09 @ 12:40 PM

JAX,

Your statement about the Chumash Casino Resort’s slot hold is not true. It never happened, not once, not ever. I am curious to know what your excuse will be for your inabillity to provide any proof to validate your statement. Just tell the truth and let people come to their own conclusion. If you can’t prove your statement about slot hold at the Chumash Casino Resort than you are willfully misrepresenting the truth to support your own agenda. Anybody who has any knowledge of the slot business would recogize your statement as false.You obviously have far less knowledge than you claim. In fact you just sound jealous and bitter. What was it you said about facts again? After reading your statements, that statement is particularly amusing at this point.

Thank you

» Marcy wrote on 11.19.09 @ 03:30 PM

Wayne,

    Where is YOUR proof to prove Jax wrong? We could say the same to you.

» Wayne wrote on 11.19.09 @ 05:11 PM

and waiting…..

» JAX wrote on 11.20.09 @ 08:24 AM

So Wayne;

  To estblish what the Chumash slot hold is, invite an independent inspection of the machines like they do in Las Vegas.  The Gambling Control Comission in Nevada has portable computer devices they bring to casinos, unannounced, that can probe the random chips and give a readout in less than a minute.

  In as much as you obviously have a connection to the Chumash casino (or maybe the Hardrock casinos) we would all welcome your disproving anything I have said.  I have given you numerous items of factual information easily obtainable from public sources and I haven’t seen you disprove anything. Do you deny, for example that one Deputy Sheriff working in and around the Chumash casino made 36 arrests, mostly felonies, for illegal drug use possession and sale over a 6 week period?  The news story was in the Valley newspaper a year or so ago although the tribe tried to hush it up!

  Why don’t you use your connections to Indian gambling to have a press conference and invite the public to examine the tribal books and check the slot machines randomly throughout the year without advance announcement!!

  The public who may frequent Indian casinos would welcome such open and transparent policies so even though they are losing there money there, they at least would know they are not being cheated in the process!

In fact, while your at it, invite the County Health Department in to inspect all the food facilities to see if they are in compliance with the law and the ABC to check id’s to make sure the 18 year olds allowed into your “sovereign” “Indian” casino to gamble away their money are really 18 and that they are not drinking alcohol!

» JAX wrote on 11.21.09 @ 12:46 PM

Wayne;

  Sorry, Iv’e never been fired by any Indian or other casino.

Not looking for fans either. Just discussing all of things that are wrong with lawless and tax evading Indian casinos and businesses all over the country.

Perhaps the other posters like Mom and Nadine are tired of waiting for your response to the points they made. Nadine is right on point with her post about the Miccosukee tribe. They have sent “tribal police” out to rescue drunk driving tribal officials one of whom killed a non-Indian driver in a collision on the state highway going to and from the Miccosukee land.  They covered up the wreck, concealed and disposed of evidence and transported the guilty party back to the “res” claiming they had a “sovereign enclave” and refused to turn him over to police and refused to cooperate with the state police investigation when they arrived at the scene even though the state police had juridiction over the incident.

Then there is your claim about the Seminoles having a compact with the governor of Florida that the Florida Supreme Court ruled was void and illegal because it required Legislative approval and there was NONE.  According to the court, it was VOID AB INITIO, which means it never lawfully existed ever. 

The other posters also probably got tired of waiting for you to disprove the Mashantucket Pequote scam perpetrated by Skip Hayward and the creation of Foxwoods casino, or all the many wrongful things going on here in California by these ersatz “Indian” bands or “tribes”.

Or perhaps you can explain or excuse the recent fraud and scandal in the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe who’s deposed leader was just sentenced to prison for misappropriating the money a Chicago developer was funneling into the tribes “Fisherman’s Fund” account established to pay off politicians and lobbyists in order, first to acquire federal acknowlegememt as a “tribe” and then secondly, to build a gambling casino in Middleboro, Massachusettes. I guess he figured he was entitled to dip into these funds if the rest of the crooked crowd involved were getting a piece of the monetary action.

Anytime you want to post up some kind of relevant explanation for this massive corruption called “Indian Gaming” jump right up!!

» DannyK wrote on 11.23.09 @ 03:46 PM

If you have the so-called proof, post it somewhere like Flickr. Otherwise, STFU. To the JAX defender, you can’t prove a negative.

» Nadine wrote on 11.23.09 @ 08:00 PM

What’s wrong, Danny? The truth hurt??

» JAX wrote on 11.24.09 @ 01:21 PM

Nadine;

  DannyK has his own interpretation of what is or isn’t illegal.  The Seminoles tried to claim they had a compact for class III gambling in Florida, the Florida Supreme Court said the governor had no authority to execute it.  DannyK does’nt understand that a compact signed with no authority MEANS IT IS ILLEGAL and in this case was a nullity from the start. i.e. VOID AB INITIO!

The more important point he didn’t address, was that the Seminoles think they are above the law and started offering the CLASS III gambling games anyway, knowing the Supreme Court found them to be illegal.  They are clearly illegal games because, any Indian tribe offering such CLASS III gambling games without a valid tribal state compact, existing and in effect UNDER STATE LAW, is operating illegally. See 25 USC 2710 (d) (3).

This is the problem with so called “Indian gaming”, it is out of control and being operated by tiny tribes, often phony or ersatz tribes, or those like the Seminoles who flaunt the law, and the tribal officials take the lions share of gambling losses living in gated mansions, with servants caring for the land purchased for them with the tribal gambling profits! Then, they think nothing of taking millions more in federal welfare and grant money from the federal govenment paid for by the non-Indian taxpayers.

» Nadine wrote on 11.25.09 @ 09:44 AM

Danny,

    Let’s go over this again….any Indian tribe offering such CLASS III gambling games without a valid tribal state compact, existing and in effect UNDER STATE LAW, is operating illegally. See 25 USC 2710 (d) (3).
What part is so hard for you understand???

» JAX wrote on 11.29.09 @ 08:14 AM

DannyK;

  The federal courts have jurisdiction over Indian tribes and jurisdiction to decide federal questions arising under federal law, like the Indian Gaming and Regulatory Act of 1988 25 USC 2701 et.seq.  In this case, as Nadine and I have both pointed out, 25 USC 2710 (d) (3) requiring a tribal-state compact for class III gambling to be LAWFULLY IN EFFECT ACCORDING TO STATE LAW.

  IT MEANS NOTHING THAT THE NIGC AND/OR THE SECRETARY OF INTERIOR HAVE “APPROVED” THE COMPACT OR “REPORTED THAT APPROVAL IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER”. Those are ultra vires acts! (if you are really interested, read the Jacarillo Apache case dealing with this very issue)

  The position taken publically and by documentation from both these agencies is as follows. 
  Their regulatory powers over Indians and Indian Gambling are created by (or enabled by) the applicable federal laws. In the case of class III gambling their regulatory powers are shared with the states [the compact requirements of 25 USC 2710 (d) (3)]

Because operating a class III casino in a manner outside of the authority or the auspices of the IGRA, such as without a valid tribal-state compact VALID ACCORDING TO STATE LAW, then it is also outside of their jurisdiction and control and they will not take enforcement action. Instead, it is up to the State in which such illegal gambling is occuring, to enforce any illegal gambling laws being violated there. That is, the state, like Florida, must enforce their laws against a tribe, like the Seminoles, who are now illegaly offering these class III games!

I know this may either be over your head or doesn’t fit into your biased agenda, but the is the law and it should have been enforced long ago!