PHOENIX β A federal appeals court this morning slapped down yet another bid by state officials and other tribes to block the Tohono O'odham Nation from conducting full-blown gaming at its Glendale casino.
In a unanimous ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments that the deal negotiated between the state and the tribe and ratified by voters in 2002 does not permit the Tohono O'odham to operate a casino on land that was not part of its reservation at the time. Justice Carlos Bea, writing for the panel, said it's irrelevant whether state officials thought β and even contend they were led to believe β that such gaming was not permitted.
He said the compact was "negotiated at length by sophisticated parties." And he said the words in that deal are all that matter.
"The language is unambiguous and not reasonably susceptible to (the state's and other tribes') interpretation that the compact implicitly bars the nation from gaming in the Phoenix area," Bea wrote. He said any evidence to the contrary which is not part of the agreement is legally irrelevant "and therefore must be rejected."
Today's ruling does not end the bid by the tribe to conduct Class III gaming on the site.
The state's gaming director is claiming that the tribe had what amounts to a "secret plan" to build the Glendale casino before the 2002 public vote but hid that from state officials and voters who had to approve the deal. That, he contends, makes the tribe legally unfit to operate the casino.
That case is still pending before a federal judge in Phoenix.
In the interim, the tribe has opened the casino with Class II gaming. That includes devices that look like slot machines but use a different kind of program to determine winners.
The lack of certification for Class III gaming also has meant the tribe cannot operate other games like blackjack, poker and roulette.
