Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh Expresses Interest in Reviewing Florida Compact Appeal Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to hear the case of West Flagler Associates, Ltd., et al., versus Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior, et al. The majority of Supreme Court justices agreed with lower federal courts in dismissing the lawsuit challenging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and the state's legislature's authority to authorize the Seminole Tribe to offer online sports betting in Florida.
A vote of seven out of nine Supreme Court justices decided to not accept the lawsuit. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson abstained from voting due to prior judicial involvement in the matter. Justice Brent Kavanaugh was the lone dissenting voice, favoring the high court's acceptance of the case.
Since a majority isn't needed for the Supreme Court to review a lower court's decision, but support from four justices is required, Kavanaugh's vote alone wasn't enough to certify the petition, resulting in the case's dismissal and upholding the lower court's ruling.
Kavanaugh Stands Alone
Appointed to the nation's highest bench in July 2018, Kavanaugh has faced weeks of accusations, including sexual assault and a gambling disorder. Despite these controversies, he believes the West Flagler case warranted the court's attention.
Plaintiffs argued that Florida's 2021 compact with the Seminoles, approved by the U.S. Interior Department, violated the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) since online sports bets would occur off Seminole sovereign land. IGRA establishes regulations and authority for federally recognized tribes to conduct gambling on their reservations.
Florida lawmakers redefined the state's gaming laws to allow tribal sports bets online, provided the wagers are facilitated on computer servers physically located on Seminole land. In essence, sports bets can originate off Seminole property on mobile devices and computers by transmitting the wager to a Seminole-based sportsbook computer server.
Plaintiff's attorneys labeled the Interior Department's legal explanation "absurd" and asserted that IGRA only permits tribal gaming on tribal lands, disputing the law's permissibility of "gambling off Indian lands by pretending that it occurred on Indian lands."
Federal counsel representing the DOI and Secretary Haaland countered that IGRA regulates gaming on tribal lands but nowhere else. They claimed that "IGRA does not prohibit a gaming compact ... from discussing other topics, including those governing activities 'outside Indian lands.'"
Wide-Ranging Implications
Legal experts believe the Supreme Court's decision on the Florida compact with the Seminoles could have far-reaching implications, potentially enabling numerous other federally recognized tribes to pursue not only online sports betting but also iGaming privileges. Stephen Hart, a partner at Lewis Roca’s Indian Law practice group, predicted that the high court's rejection will likely lead to an increase in tribal online gaming.
The Supreme Court has declined to hear the West Flagler case. However, earlier declining a stay, this leaves no obstacles for tribes to engage in sports betting and internet gaming from their servers on their Indian lands and receive bets from anywhere in the state. Hart clarified, "The Tribes will now have to work with their state governments, but with a compact, they will be able to conduct internet gaming."
According to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, over two dozen states currently have active gaming compacts with federally recognized tribes.
