Slot Machine Lawsuit

Depending on what side of the fence you sit on will decide how you feel about the Seminoles and their recent lawsuit for Class III slot machines. Those that were on the state’s side say that the tribe needs to be more patient, that they will receive their machines eventually. Those that are on the tribe’s side say that they have waited long enough for the state and the Department of the Interior to give them their slot machines, and they should be awarded them immediately.

It does seem odd that the tribe complained that Governor Bush would not work with them to sign a slot machine compact, and then seemingly will not work with Governor Crist. As soon as Governor Crist was in office, he asked the tribe to work with him to sign a compact, and yet eight days later the tribe runs to court to sue for the right to have the Class III slot machines.

It is understandable that the tribe is tired of waiting for the slot machine upgrade, considering the fact that Broward has approved full scale slot machines and it is cutting into their revenue. It is also understandable that they might be wary of waiting to sign a compact with Crist, when Bush ended up screwing them out of slot revenue all this time. It is also understandable that they would be angry with the Department of the Interior when they promised to step in and give them machines, and yet did not do it while the president’s brother was the governor.

Some think the matter of “extreme urgency” as they coined it to the court, is really just an attempt to bypass the state so that they can put slot machines at any of their locations that they choose – including the much disputed one at Big Cypress National Preserve. But the big argument on the other side is that Bush had the chance to give the state of Florida a nice cut of slot machine revenue and chose not to because he didn’t want the slots legalized, and in the process, he may have screwed Florida out of hundreds of millions of dollars.

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