Appeals court returns tribal slots case

Thursday, Jan. 6, 2000 | 9:51 a.m.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn't rule on the legality of the machines but sent the cases back to Spokane with instructions to determine if the machines are legal under Washington state law.

Until now, the question before the courts was whether the machines were legal under the federal the Johnson Act, but determining the legality of the devices under state law is the most efficient way to handle the case, the appellate judges decided.

If the machines are found to be illegal under state law, a number of issues that were raised in the appeal need not be considered, the court said.

U.S. District Judge Fred Van Sickle ruled in December 1998 the machines were illegal under the Johnson Act, which prohibits slot machines on federal lands, including Indian reservations.

The tribes appealed Van Sickle's ruling and won an order allowing the machines to remain in use until appeals are exhausted. That order remains in effect.

In September 1998, U.S. marshals seized 108 slot machines from the tiny Shoalwater Bay Tribe in the coastal town of Tokeland after a federal judge in Seattle ruled they were illegal under state law..

The Shoalwater decision was upheld in the 9th Circuit the same day the Spokane and Colville cases were heard.

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