Plaintiff alleged that its Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated when the City of Waukegan did not advance its casino proposal for licensing consideration. The district court granted summary judgment for the plaintiff, reasoning that tribal entities like the plaintiff were not proper plaintiffs under federal law and that plaintiff's claim failed as a matter of law. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, explaining that plaintiff could not carry its heavy burden of establishing that the process was unconstitutional as a class-of-one plaintiff. The appellate court further noted that while the city’s casino review process may have been flawed, the absence of perfection in a process is not sufficient to prove intentional discrimination. (ST. EVE, concurring and SCUDDER, separately concurring)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Equal Protection Clause