A federal appeals court docket has given the Comanche Nation a blended however significant win in its combat over the Heat Springs On line casino run by the Fort Sill Apache Tribe close to Lawton, Oklahoma.
In a resolution filed Tuesday (April 21), the U.S. Courtroom of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit mentioned a part of the lawsuit can maintain shifting even after arguments that tribal sovereign immunity ought to block the case. Judges mentioned the Comanche Nation might proceed claims beneath the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, often called IGRA, towards Fort Sill Apache officers sued of their official roles.
The dispute started after Heat Springs On line casino opened in 2022. In keeping with the ruling, the Comanche Nation runs close by gaming properties and claimed that “The ensuing competitors made the Nation’s casinos much less worthwhile.”
The Nation requested the court docket to cease on line casino operations and award damages. The opinion says the Nation alleged the on line casino “was opened in violation of federal regulation.”
Writing for the three-judge panel, Circuit Decide Timothy Tymkovich mentioned the court docket would “affirm partially and reverse partially.”
Why the Heat Springs On line casino ruling supporting the Comanche Nation issues
The panel mentioned “the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) abrogates the Tribe’s sovereign immunity protection, so the Nation can proceed with its official-capacity claims beneath IGRA.”
It retains alive the central argument that Heat Springs On line casino could also be working exterior the Fort Sill Apache Tribe’s gaming compact with Oklahoma. The Comanche Nation contends the on line casino sits on land that doesn’t qualify as Fort Sill Apache land beneath that compact.
Judges mentioned the criticism alleges the Tsalote Allotment stays Kiowa land, not Fort Sill Apache land. At this stage, the court docket mentioned it needed to settle for correctly pleaded allegations as true.
The ruling additionally mentioned the declare suits a federal provision permitting fits “initiated by a State or Indian tribe to enjoin a category III gaming exercise situated on Indian lands and performed in violation of any Tribal-State compact.”
However the Comanche Nation didn’t win throughout the board. The judges rejected official-capacity racketeering claims beneath RICO that sought injunctions and declarations. The panel mentioned the Ex Parte Younger exception couldn’t be used right here as a result of the criticism didn’t tie the named officers to ongoing on line casino operations.
Because the panel put it, “Ex Parte Younger doesn’t assist the Nation as a result of its claims will not be towards officers charged with working the on line casino.”
The court docket individually allowed individual-capacity RICO damages claims to proceed, saying these claims goal officers personally somewhat than the tribe itself. Due to that, judges wrote, “they can’t increase the Tribe’s sovereign immunity.”
The panel didn’t resolve whether or not these officers may later assert certified immunity.
The case now returns to the U.S. District Courtroom for the Western District of Oklahoma. The choice lands amid wider tribal gaming battles, together with a non permanent on line casino deal involving Yocha Dehe, Vallejo, and Scotts Valley in California, and a paused northern California tribal on line casino lawsuit.
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