Gaming opponents sue Idaho tribes to overturn initiative

Chuck Oxley

Friday, Jan. 3, 2003 | 9:51 a.m.

BOISE, Idaho -- Opponents of gambling on Indian reservations have filed a lawsuit in the Idaho Supreme Court to overturn the Indian Gaming Initiative, which voters passed by a 16-point margin last November.

The challenge was filed Tuesday by the nonprofit group, "Straight Talk: Gambling in Idaho," led by Republican Sen. Laird Noh of Kimblerly. He had promised the legal challenge even before the measure passed on Nov. 5.

Proposition 1 legalized gambling machines currently in use on reservations but limits their growth over the next 10 years. It was sponsored by the Coeur d'Alene, Kootenai and Nez Perce Tribes and passed 58 percent to 42 percent.

Noh said Idaho voters simply were uninformed about the pitfalls of reservation gambling before the vote.

He pointed to a Time magazine national cover story published on Dec. 16 -- five weeks after the General Election -- that exposed reservation gambling across the country as a cash cow for rich white investors and a handful of Indians while poor tribal members were left out. The Time article did not report information about any Idaho tribes.

Noh said the Idaho tribes' 16-percent victory margin came "before courageous actions of Time magazine. The public is much more aware of the issue now," he said. "This has the potential to drastically change the state of Idaho to the detriment of our people," Noh said.

The Coeur D'Alene Tribe, which poured the lion's share of more than $4 million into the campaign to pass the measure, called the lawsuit an attempt to override the will of the people and a waste of taxpayer dollars.

"What is it about 'Yes' that the plaintiffs don't understand?" Coeur d'Alene Tribal Chairman Ernie Stensgar said in a prepared statement. "I am saddened that we will have to go through this unnecessary legal battle once again, and that the taxpayers and our tribe will have to foot the bill for this lesson in futility."

Last August the state Supreme Court unanimously dismissed a petition by Noh's group asking the court to determine the constitutionality of the initiative. The court declined, saying any question of constitutionality was moot because the initiative had not yet passed.

Before the election, a University of Idaho study paid for by the tribes found that Idaho's Indian gaming facilities support 4,455 jobs in the state, attract more than one million out-of-state visitors annually, and generate $83 million in wages and earnings, $250 million in sales and $10 million in state and local taxes each year.

Noh questioned the veracity -- even the existence -- of that study and blasted the media for failing to report the issue the way the Time magazine story had.

"The Time reporters got off their butts and looked at this thing," Noh said.

Noh's lawsuit does not address the issue of tribal sovereignty, which Indians have argued is central to their right to self determination. Noh said that was a federal issue under litigation by other parties in federal courts.

Noh is joined by Republican Rep. Maxine Bell of Jerome, Cassia County Commissioner Paul Christensen and Boise-area pastor Bryan Fischer, who also served as chaplain to the Idaho Senate in 2001.

Bell said the lawsuit was filed because the state constitution forbids gambling and allows only the same kinds of games that the official state lottery permits.

Asked whether it would be appropriate to change Idaho's Constitution to reflect the initiative's passage, Bell said, "I don't think some of us think gambling is good for Idaho."

The respondents in the lawsuit, Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, retiring Secretary of State Pete Cenarrusa and Stensgar, have three weeks to reply.