A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week rejected arguments that the agreement the Tohono O’odham tribe negotiated with the state and others gaming tribes of Arizona IN 2002 does not permit the tribe to open a casino in Glendale, near Phoenix.
The challenge was brought by the state of Arizona and other gaming tribes opposed to the tribe’s Desert Diamond Casino West Valley. They argued that when the tribe signed the 2002 gaming compact that they agreed not to put a casino in the Phoenix Valley, when they had every intention of doing so.
Whether they did or not, said the court, the wording of the compact does not prevent them from opening the casino, which opened as a Class II casino on December 20.
Justice Carlos Bea, writing for the panel, noted that the compact was “negotiated at length by sophisticated parties” and added, “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.”
“We hold the parties to their words,” wrote Bea.
The most recent ruling constitutes the 19th time that the tribe has won in court against its opponents, who, besides the state includes the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and the Gila River Indian Community who operate competing casinos.
There is still one more court case pending, a federal court case where the state’s gaming director, Daniel Bergin, claims that the tribe was legally unfit to operate a casino because it had a secret plan to dupe the other tribes and the state.
The tribe still doesn’t have the legal right to offer Class III games. It has pledged to continue to work with the state to get them to implement Class III games.
Tribal Chairman Edward D. Manuel hailed the ruling: “We call on our opponents to drop all outstanding, misguided challenges so that we can work together in partnership to create positive economic development for the Tohono O’odham Nation, the West Valley, and all of Arizona.”
Governor Doug Ducey indicated a willingness to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. “We’ve reviewed the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision and we encourage the attorney general’s office to explore all options to make sure Arizona’s interests are considered,” he said and called on Congress to approve a measure that has been approved by the House and sits in the Senate that would remove the tribe’s right to operate a casino in Glendale for 25 years.
Gila River’s Manuel Johnson called for the bill’s passage: “Simply put, the (Tohono O’odham) Nation broke its promise to Arizona voters and to its sister tribes across the state by negotiating in bad faith and opening a casino off traditional reservation lands, something Nation leaders for years assured one and all they would not do.”
