TRIBAL GAMING IN FLORIDA
as an indispensable party relied on its interest in “a plainly unlawful” compact. 141 B. The adequacy of the federal government’s representation As pointed out by the tribe’s motion to intervene, the Interior Department’s performance in the litigation had the potential to substantially impact the tribe’s economic interests. Despite the possibility for heightened scrutiny of its performance, the government made several procedural missteps throughout the litigation. On September 15, 2021, the court granted the parties’ joint motion to set a briefing schedule. 142 The schedule set deadlines for the parimutuel operators to submit a motion for summary judgment and for the federal government to file a response. 143 The parimutuel operators submitted a motion for summary judgment on the scheduled deadline devoting the bulk of their argument to attempting to demonstrate that mobile wagers made pursuant to the 2021 Compact do not take place “on Indian lands” as required by IGRA. 144 The motion consistently reinforced the argument that the wagers took place wherever the patron was physically located, and not where the servers are located as “deemed” by the 2021 Compact. 145 In all, the gaming operators dedicated over thirty pages to an argument on the legal merits of the case. 146 In stark contrast, the government did not submit a response by the briefing schedule deadline. 147 In fact, the Interior Department did not respond to the motion for summary judgment until admonished by the court during the motion hearing on November 5, 2021. 148 The government instead focused all efforts on arguing that the case should be dismissed 141 Id . 142 Minute Order (Sep. 15, 2021), West Flagler . 143 Id . 144 Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment, West Flagler .
before the merits could ever be considered. 149 Despite the briefing schedule and the volume of pages devoted to arguing the mobile wagering provisions did not meet IGRA’s “on Indian lands” requirement, the government was unprepared to discuss the substantive merits of the case during the motion hearing. 150 In a minute order filed that same day, the court admonished the government for its “refusal, both in. . . briefing and at oral argument” to respond to the motion for summary judgment. 151 During the November motion hearing, the court directly asked the government to clarify its position on the “on Indian lands” issue at least ten times. 152 When asked specifically if the mobile wagering under the 2021 Compact all took place on tribal land, the government indicated it was not prepared to answer at that time. 153 The court gave the Interior Department four days to file an amended response that addressed the substantive merits, but that response still did not definitively answer the “on Indian lands” question. 154 C. The Final Order On November 22, 2021, the court issued the final order invalidating the entirety of the 2021 Compact and reverting the state and tribe to the 2010 Compact. 155 This stopped the Seminole Tribe not only from offering mobile wagering, but also physical sportsbooks on tribal lands, expanded casino games such as craps and roulette, and the option to build three new casinos. 156 In reaching its decision, the court also ruled the Seminole Tribe was not an indispensable party and denied its motion to intervene. 157 The court’s argument first addressed the standing claims brought by the government in its motions to dismiss. 158 The
145 Id . 146 Id . 147 Docket, West Flagler 148 Transcript of Motions Hearing before Judge Dabney L Friedrich (Nov. 5, 2021), West Flagler [hereinafter “Hearing Transcript”] .
149 Id . 150 Id 151 Minute Order (Nov. 5, 2021), West Flagler . 152 Hearing Transcript, supra note 147. 153 Id . 154 Defendant’s Amended Response to Motion for Summary Judgment, West Flagler . 155 West Flagler at *12. 156 2021 Compact, supra note 81. 157 West Flagler at *12. 158 Id . at *2.
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IMGL MAGAZINE | APRIL 2023
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