By asking for concessions on issues unrelated to gaming, the state of California has lost the ability to regulate five Indian casinos, among them the Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians—forever. So reported Indian gaming law expert I. Nelson Rose, writing in Gambling and the Law.
During negotiations over the tribal state gaming compacts with the Chicken Ranch et al, the California Attorney General insisted on concessions on enforcement of child and spousal support orders, and environmental standards. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that California had negotiated in bad faith because these issues were not related to operating a casino.
In fact, the appeals court ruled that “by even asking the tribes to discuss topics that were not directly related to the regulation of casino gambling,” the state was acting in bad faith. The court added that there was nothing the state could offer that would make up for this legal faux pas.
Ever since tribal casinos were legalized in California, the state, under various governors and attorneys general, has tried to insinuate issues unrelated to gaming into gaming compacts.
That approach seems to have run into a rock wall, unless the Supreme Court were to someday take up the issue. That seems unlikely since California Attorney General Rob Bonta has agreed to abide by the ruling and the case was dismissed, with prejudice, which means it can’t be revived.
In the case of the three tribes, they will deal directly with the National Indian Gaming Commission, and completely bypass the state. According to Rose, these tribes “will now be able to operate an unlimited number of slot machines, in as many casinos as they wish, on their reservations.”
Rose concluded, “the Governor and Attorney General of California have now learned that when negotiating tribal-state compacts for Indian casinos, they cannot discuss any issues that are not directly related to the control of gaming. They not only got their hands slapped. They lost, forever, their right to have any say over these five Indian casinos.”
