TRIBAL GAMING IN FLORIDA
court determined that the West Flagler plaintiffs met all the requirements for Article III standing by establishing that the economic harm caused by competition with the expanded tribal operations constituted an actual and particularized injury. 159 Noting that its decision in favor of the parimutuel operators would also satisfy the relief requested by the gaming opponents, the court declined to conduct a standing analysis on those plaintiffs and dismissed their claims as moot. 160 The court next turned to the Seminole Tribe’s motion to intervene for a limited purpose. 161 Because the Tribe filed the motion to intervene for the sole purpose of moving for dismissal as an indispensable party immune from suit, the court first analyzed whether the tribe was indeed an indispensable party before ruling on the motion to intervene. 162 The court conceded that the tribe’s interests would be directly affected by the case and were thus a “required party” in that respect. 163 However, the court further reasoned that it was compelled to determine if a case can be dismissed “in equity and good conscience” where a required party cannot be joined. 164 In conducting this analysis, the court determined that proceeding in the tribe’s absence would not harm its economic interest in the compact because the federal and state governments had sufficiently presented arguments on the merits of the case and shared the tribe’s position on the key issue. 165 The court further stated that the tribe did not detail how its interests differed from those of the Interior Department and so the Secretary adequately represented its interests. 166 Because the tribe was not an indispensable party, the court determined that the motion to intervene was moot. Finally, the court ruled that the 2021 Compact authorized gaming both on and off tribal lands. 167 Calling the 2021
Compact’s wager location provision a “fiction,” the court held that it violated IGRA’s “on Indian lands” requirement. 168 In reaching this decision, the court found that the Interior Secretary’s approval letter did not contain a “plausible defense” of the 2021 Compact’s scope, 169 and that the allocation of mobile wagering jurisdiction between the state and tribe did not address whether the gaming was taking place on Indian lands. 170 Furthermore, the court acknowledged that multiple states have enacted laws deeming wagers to take place at the server’s location, but held that such changes in state law did not affect the federal issues in the case. 171 The court determined that the entire 2021 Compact should be invalidated under the APA. 172 To reach this decision, the court interpreted binding precedent form the D.C. Circuit as requiring a total rejection of the compact rather than invalidating the offending provisions. 173 The order “[restored] the legal status of Class III gaming in Florida to where it was on August 4, 2021.” 174 Finally, the court concluded by emphasizing that a continued offering of mobile wagering would be a violation of federal law. 175 V. Analysis: the West Flagler court’s abandonment of IGRA’S principles The Seminole Tribe’s exclusion from the West Flagler proceedings and the ultimate outcome of the case undermined the purposes of IGRA and the foundational principles of federal tribal law. IGRA was enacted in accordance with the federal government’s trust relationship with tribes and as a conduit to tribal self-sufficiency, economic development, and strong tribal
159 Id . at *8. 160 Id . at *12. 161 Id . 162 Id . at *13.
163 Id . 164 Id . 165 Id .
166 Id . at *15. 167 Id . at *19. 168 Id . 169 Id . at *20 170 Id . 171 Id . 172 Id . at *21 173 Id . 174 Id . at *24 175 Id .
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IMGL MAGAZINE | APRIL 2023
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