After three long years, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, a leader in the fight for Tribal gaming rights, appears to have just won its latest battle – this one over a Tribe’s ability to offer mobile sports betting throughout the...more
On February 27, 2024, the District Court for the Eastern District of California entered an order finding that California did not negotiate a Class III gaming compact in good faith with Plaintiff Alturas Indian Rancheria...more
On February 16, 2024, the United States Department of the Interior (“DOI”) issued revisions to its regulations for how it reviews Class III Tribal-State Gaming Compacts under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (“IGRA”). The...more
On January 31, 2024, the United States Department of the Interior issued gaming procedures under the Federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (“IGRA”) for five tribes located in California: Blue Lake Rancheria, Chemehuevi Indian...more
In a recent decision, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled in the case of Sipp v. Buffalo Thunder Inc. that state courts do not have the authority to adjudicate tort claims filed by casino visitors. The unanimous decision...more
In an interim order, the U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily stayed an order by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding a gaming compact between the state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which would allow the...more
There has been a recent decision on an interesting case involving a challenge to the ability of the federal government to provide benefits or rights to Tribes and other Native organizations....more
The Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians (“Rincon”) in California has taken a historical step under its federally approved Class III Secretarial Gaming Procedures to withdraw from California’s state oversight of its tribal gaming...more
On July 28, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (“Court” or “Ninth Circuit”) issued a significant decision addressing the Class III gaming compact negotiation process between a state and a tribe as required by the Federal...more
On November 23, 2021, the US District Court for the District of Columbia invalidated a 2021 gaming compact between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the State of Florida, which permitted mobile sports wagering throughout the...more
As the Seminole Tribe’s anticipated November 15 online betting “launch” approaches, there has been a flurry of activity in the three lawsuits challenging the online sports betting provisions in the 2021 Seminole Tribal-State...more
As we reported previously, the U.S. Department of the Interior (Department) issued a letter on August 6, indicating it had declined to take action regarding Florida’s state-tribal gaming compact (the Compact) within the...more
For over 20 years, the State of California has used tribal gaming compacts to accomplish what federal law and tribal sovereignty would otherwise forbid: forcing tribes to follow state labor law in their casinos. Recently...more
The Seneca Nation of Indians moved under Section 10 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) to vacate certain arbitration awards issued in favor of the state of New York, finding that Seneca must pay the state millions in...more
HIGHLIGHTS: •In a recent case before the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota, Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe v. Gerlach, the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe (Tribe) won a partial, but significant, victory...more
On December 12, 2016, Judge Battaglia of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California issued the Court’s long-awaited ruling on the State of California and Federal Government’s motions for summary...more
For the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), time may have finally run out on their continued efforts to operate a gaming facility on Martha’s Vineyard. Tomorrow, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit,...more
California’s Estom Yumeka Maidu Tribe, also known as Enterprise Rancheria, has said it will begin construction of a scaled-down Class II gaming facility in Yuba County, instead of the Class III facility that has been opposed...more
By the summer of 2014, it appeared that the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians of California had finally made it over the last hurdle to begin construction of a Class III casino with 2,000 slot machines and 40 gaming tables...more
The Pueblo of Pojoaque needs a new Class III gaming compact by June 2015 in order to continue operating its casinos which are located north of Santa Fe. However, the Pueblo objected to the financial concessions being demanded...more
In This Issue: - INDIAN COUNTRY AWAITS 9TH CIRCUIT’S EN BANC REHEARING IN BIG LAGOON CASE: In January, a split 9th Circuit panel shocked Indian Country with its holding in Big Lagoon Rancheria v. California that...more
In This Issue: - LATEST TRIBAL GAMING REVENUE REPORT: “TRIBAL GAMING IMPROVES DESPITE SLUGGISH ECONOMY”: The annual “Casino City’s Indian Gaming Industry Report” was released nationally on Wednesday, and the...more