Texas tribe sues state for right to operate casino

Mark Babineck

Friday, Nov. 23, 2001 | 10:15 a.m.

ALABAMA-COUSHATTA RESERVATION, Texas -- The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe sued the state of Texas on Wednesday to preserve the right to operate a casino, which officials said is on the verge of opening in a modest wooden building on the East Texas reservation.

Kevin Battise, chairman of the tribal council, said in a news conference that state law that permits the lottery opened the door to casino-style gaming under federal law, which allows Indian gambling only in states where similar forms of gaming are legal.

"Texas is allowing gaming, so it should be allowed for us," said Battise, whose attorneys filed the lawsuit in Lufkin federal court.

In a statement, Texas Attorney General John Cornyn noted that a federal court in West Texas recently ruled that the El Paso-area Tigua Tribe must shut down its Speaking Rock Casino by next week. The Tiguas and Alabama-Coushattas both are governed by the 1987 Restoration Act that brought them back under federal supervision.

The federal act prohibits reservation gambling otherwise illegal in a state. The tribes argue the state lottery law actually lets Texas operate virtually any type of gaming, except for video machines, and the state merely has chosen to limit its operation to lottery tickets so far.

Cornyn said he will sue the tribe as soon as it opens a casino, which Battise predicted will happen before Christmas.

"The law is clear on casino gambling in Texas. It's illegal," Cornyn said. "The federal law that granted the Alabama-Coushatta tribes of Texas federal status specifically states that all gaming activities prohibited by Texas are prohibited on the reservation."

Cornyn added that even the state itself cannot operate casino-style gambling. His office cites a 1994 opinion by predecessor Dan Morales, who wrote the intent of Texas voters in 1991 was only to create a state-run lottery when the amended the Texas Constitution.

State Sen. Todd Staples, who represents the region, said Wednesday he hopes the tribe will reconsider its plans and supported Cornyn's position.

Both the Tiguas and Alabama-Coushatta vowed not to run casinos before their federal status was restored in 1987. However, Battise said they agreed to that provision only because they thought Congress was going to outlaw gambling altogether in the Restoration Act.

Even then, the tribe thought the issue was moot because all gambling was forbidden in Texas. That changed when the lottery was instituted, Battise said, although tribal members rejected gambling six years ago.

However, they overwhelmingly approved saying "on ti chuka," or welcome, to casino-style gaming in 1999. A new gift shop building, which opened in May 2000, has been converted into a 133-employee casino that can serve 500 patrons playing blackjack, poker and slot machines.

Fifty-four of the workers are from the tribe, with the rest hailing from Livingston, 17 miles to the west, and Woodville to the east along U.S. Highway 190. Plans call for a 24-hour, liquor-free facility catering to day trippers.

Unlike Speaking Rock in El Paso or the Lucky Eagle Casino in isolated Eagle Pass -- run by the Kickapoos, who are not restricted by the Restoration Act -- the Alabama-Coushatta gambling hall is within 90 minutes of much of greater Houston and its 3.1 million gambling-age residents.

Tribal leaders and attorneys coyly smile when they say they don't know what the response to their "Alabama-Coushatta Entertainment Center," will be, though they have noticed the stream of cars and buses that regularly trek to Louisiana riverboat and Indian casinos.

"I hear the Speaking Rock Casino brings in $60 million a year in revenue," said Battise, leader of the 1,000-member tribe. "That would go a long ways toward solving some of our problems here."

Battise stressed the Alabama-Coushatta will run their own hall and revenue would stay with the tribe, lessening its runaway unemployment, boosting badly needed services for more than 500 reservation residents and stimulating the perpetually depressed Deep East Texas economy.

Speakers at the news conference repeatedly villified Cornyn, with one woman likening his pursuit of Indian casinos to the Taliban's treatment of Afghans. Attorney Scott Crowell believes he can beat the state.

"We fully support the Tiguas and believe the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ... will lead to a favorable result," Crowell said, referring to the West Texas tribe's appeal. "And we're entitled to our own day in court."

Cornyn cited congressional testimony by former tribal chairman Morris Bullock, who said in the 1980s that "tribal custom and religion would not allow us to have any kind of gambling" regardless of the laws.

"I am saddened to hear that they have gone back on their word," Cornyn said.