Rincon Sues State and Wins

The Rincon Indian Band and two other Indian tribes had sued the state of California over the 1999 slot machine compacts that they had signed. The lawsuit was thrown out at the state’s request because they said that you couldn’t have a ruling due to the fact that they hadn’t heard from the other tribes that had signed the compacts at the same time.

However, it looks like the tribe may have caught a break. A federal appeals court said yesterday that the judges were wrong and that the case could have been ruled on in spite of not having heard from the other tribes.

Now the tribe will wait to see if the state will appeal. If they don’t, the judges will decide if the state or the tribes have correctly figured the number of available slot machines. The amount of slot machines in the state is likely to increase as a result of the ruling.

The amount that was originally decided upon was calculated using a formula that the state and the tribes disagreed upon. Some tribes renegotiated, while others chose to sue the state to get them to give out more slot machines.

The appeals court has not ruled on the number of slot machines that will be allowed, but rather is leaving that up to the state.

 

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