Court refuses to block card room

Ron Harris

Friday, Sept. 26, 2003 | 10:08 a.m.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court rejected Thursday an attempt to block a landless Indian tribe from taking over an urban card room in the San Francisco Bay area.

In its ruling, the 9th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request by a group of competing card rooms for a preliminary injunction against the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians.

Led by Artichoke Joe's II, the group sought to block the Lytton takeover of Casino San Pablo, alleging the tribe's proposed gambling house would deny them equal constitutional protections.

The card rooms also claim the Lytton Indians do not qualify as a tribe and therefore are ineligible to operate such a casino.

The appeals court decision affirms a similar ruling issued earlier this month by a Sacramento-based U.S. District Court judge who is overseeing the primary case against the tribe.

Thursday's ruling means that Interior Secretary Gail Norton, also named as a defendant in the suit, could transfer Casino San Pablo's title to the Lytton tribe as early as today.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., sent a letter to Norton on Sept. 12, asking her to postpone putting the 10-acre casino property into trust for the tribe until the litigation has been resolved.

"I believe it would be a mistake for the Department of Interior to go forward, even if legally permissible, when there continue to be questions about whether the Lytton were ever validly recognized as a tribe," Feinstein wrote to Norton.

Plaintiffs in the case claim that if the Indians took over Casino San Pablo, they could offer electronic bingo games with unlimited jackpots. They say non-Indian card rooms aren't allowed to offer any type of bingo and charitable groups are limited to $250 bingo jackpots.