Court rejects Indian gaming case

Andrew Kramer

Monday, Dec. 1, 2003 | 9:25 a.m.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The state Supreme Court threw out a suit to block a new Indian casino on the Oregon coast last week, deflating the hopes of anti-casino activists who thought they had discovered a legal flaw in Oregon's tribal gaming rules.

Casino opponents had argued the governor could not sign a gaming compact with a tribe because the state constitution prohibits casino gambling.

Tribes are not subject to state law but many have signed agreements with states to open casinos under the 1988 federal Indian Gaming Act. Such agreements, which cover such issues as traffic rules and public safety, are in place in about 25 states.

The Oregon case targeted one of these agreements, following a strategy that has proved successful in other states and is gaining momentum as a legal tool for opponents of Indian gaming across the country.

Similar cases in New York, New Mexico and Kansas have been successful in blocking casinos, said Alex Johnson, a New Mexico attorney and expert on Indian gaming law hired by the Oregon group that filed the suit, People Against a Casino Town.

The New York case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, but two weeks ago justices said they would not get involved in Indian gaming disputes and that state courts would have to rule on the legality of such compacts.

The Oregon Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the legal action -- a writ of mandamus request -- without comment on Tuesday, court clerk John Koskela said.

Johnson said the ruling was a setback but did not decide the case on its merits, leaving open the possibility for casino opponents to file their case again in the lower courts.

"The Supreme Court has decided not to decide the petition," Johnson said. "It's plugging its ears and covering its eyes to the issue."

Kevin Neely, spokesman for the Department of Justice, said the state believes the compacts are legal, but agreed the issue remains unresolved in Oregon courts and could surface again.

The ruling, however, appeared to quash any hope of casino opponents to legally block the 400-slot Three Rivers Casino and convention center in Florence before construction is expected to begin next year.

The Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Siuslaw and Lower Umpqua Indians plans so angered residents in the 7,500-population tourist and resort town on the Pacific coast that the city council voted last spring to refuse water and sewer service to the tribe.

The tribe shot back that it would drill its own wells for water and build its own sewage system. Dueling pro- and anti-casino signs popped up on U.S. 101 near the town.

Francis Somday, administrator of the 700-member tribe based in Coos Bay, said many bars in Florence already run mini-casinos with video lottery machines, and that state statistics show residents are among the most prolific gamblers in the state.

The tribe considers gaming a right necessary for financial security. They hired Las Vegas-based gambling developer ROI to build and manage the 400-slot gaming floor, expected to net $10 million to $12 million a year.