TRAVERSE CITY, MI— A federal appeals panel has ruled that the city of Detroit violated the U.S. Constitution by giving two companies preferential treatment when issuing licenses for casinos there. The two companies— Greektown Casino LLC and Atwater Entertainment Associates LLC— had helped support a 1996 statewide ballot measure approved by voters that allowed off-reservation gambling in Detroit. The measure specified that only three casinos could be built. MGM Grand was also awarded a license but did not receive preferential status. The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, which runs a casino in Watersmeet, had argued the ordinance discriminated against the tribe for failing to take the correct position in the political debate over legalizing off-reservation gambling. The appeals court agreed. “By employing the preference, Detroit basically sought to end the high-stakes competition for two of the three Detroit casino licenses before it really began,” Chief Judge Boyce F. Martin wrote in the majority opinion. “This we cannot allow. Barring governments from endorsing or punishing political activity, or the lack of it, is among the paramount functions of the First Amendments Free Speech Clause.” SOURCE: AP