Attorneys for the of the Pueblo of Pojoaque Tribe argued last week to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals that the state of New Mexico is overreaching its authority when it pressures vendors not to do business with the tribe’s casino.
The tribe argued that it doesn’t have to negotiate a new compact with the state, although it has been operating without one for two years. When the compact expired, the tribe sued the state in federal court, claiming that the state was trying to force the tribe into parting with a higher percentage of gaming revenues as a condition for renewing its compact.
Meanwhile the state threatened to revoke the business licenses of any businesses that did business with the casino.
Last September a lower court dismissed the tribe’s suit. It ruled “The plaintiffs’ principal response is that the defendants improperly determined that Pojoaque Pueblo’s Class III gaming in the absence of a compact is illegal,” and added, “Under IGRA, ‘a tribe cannot conduct class III gaming on its lands without a compact.’”
The tribe claims that the federal government, not the state, has jurisdiction over a state’s gaming activities.
The lower court judge agreed that the state had the power to take away the license of any business that does business “with an illegal operation.”
The attorney representing the state told the three-judge panel: “The state is regulating its licensees’ conduct off the reservation. That’s a legitimate interest of the state.” He added, “We are regulating the state’s licensees. It’s not the state imposing its regulations on the Pueblo.”
