{"id":199241,"date":"2022-01-26T04:56:28","date_gmt":"2022-01-26T12:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=199241"},"modified":"2022-01-26T13:27:19","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T21:27:19","slug":"interior-department-haaland-appeal-ruling-against-seminole-florida-gaming-compact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/interior-department-haaland-appeal-ruling-against-seminole-florida-gaming-compact\/","title":{"rendered":"Interior Department, Haaland Appeal Ruling Against Seminole-Florida Gaming Compact"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US Department of the Interior and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland filed an appeal Tuesday in federal court. They are seeking to overturn a decision made two months ago that voided a gaming compact between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and state officials.<\/p>\n

\"Sec
US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland makes a statement in April 2021 on climate change. On Tuesday, Haaland and the Department of the Interior filed an appeal in the US Circuit Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia, asking judges there to review a November ruling that voided a gaming compact between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the state of Florida. (Image: DOI.gov)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The filing comes six days after the department and Haaland gave notice last week of their plan to appeal. After submitting it in the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the court consolidated the case with a previous appeal filed by the Seminole Tribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to an order posted Tuesday by the circuit court, the Interior Department must file its statement of issues by Feb. 9. Additionally, the court has yet to schedule oral arguments in the case.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Interior Department declined to comment on the decision to appeal.<\/p>\n

About the Case<\/h2>\n

On Nov. 22, US District Judge Dabney Friedrich tossed out the compact<\/a>, saying that the deal violated the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). Two Florida-based pari-mutuel operators \u2013 the Magic City Casino and the Bonita Springs Poker Room \u2013 filed the suit in US District Court in the District of Columbia in August, claiming the sports betting provisions of the compact violated the federal law overseeing tribal gaming.<\/p>\n

\n

The compact the Seminole Tribe and the DeSantis Administration reached last spring gave the tribe exclusive rights to operate sports betting statewide, including off tribal lands. Besides mobile sports betting, the compact allowed the Seminole Tribe to also establish a hub-and-spoke network with pari-mutuel operators across the state. The agreement would let cardrooms, racetracks, and other pari-mutuel gaming facilities host kiosks for the Seminole Tribe and receive a share of the proceeds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Interior Department had 45 days to review the compact and determine if it complied with federal law. However. federal officials failed to render a decision within that time frame. That meant the compact was considered approved to the extent it complied with IGRA, which states that wagers must be made on tribal lands.<\/p>\n

The pari-mutuel operators claimed federal officials should not have allowed the compact because of the off-tribal land provisions. The Interior Department sought to dismiss the case and said Florida and Seminole Tribe officials had the right to determine where gaming occurs<\/p>\n

In her ruling, Friedrich determined that the compact violated the \u201cIndian lands\u201d provision of the federal gaming law. While she could have just struck down that provision and kept other portions of the compact, she chose to void the entire arrangement.<\/p>\n

Intervention Denial<\/h2>\n

The Seminole Tribe, which was not an official party in the lawsuit, filed its appeal within two days of Friedrich\u2019s ruling. Despite the pari-mutuel operators filing the lawsuit, the tribe launched its Hard Rock Sportsbook mobile app at the beginning of November.<\/p>\n

The app would be suspended a month later after tribal officials were denied a stay on Friedrich\u2019s ruling at the district and circuit court levels.<\/p>\n

\n

Tribal leaders sought to intervene in the case at the federal district court level to dismiss the case. In the appeal to federal circuit court judges, they want the panel to determine if Friedrich erred when she failed to give them the opportunity to make their case in her court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

According to the Seminole Tribe\u2019s statement of issues, the tribe says it deserves to weigh in on the case because \u201cthe Tribe is a party, no other party to the compact was named, a judgment would substantially affect the Tribe\u2019s vital interests, and the only named defendant could not be expected to adequately represent the tribe\u2019s interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tribe is not the only entity with a financial stake in the matter. Per the compact, the state of Florida stands to receive $2.5 billion over the first five years of the agreement.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the new compact currently nullified, the Seminole Tribe continues to operate casino gaming on its lands in Florida through a previously approved compact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The US Department of the Interior and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland filed an appeal Tuesday in federal court. They are seeking to overturn a decision made two months ago that voided a gaming compact between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and state officials. The filing comes six days after the department and Haaland gave notice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":199243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,18456],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nInterior Dept, Haaland File Appeal in Florida Gaming Compact Lawsuit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The US Circuit Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia also consolidated the government's appeal with one filed by the Seminole Tribe\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Interior Dept, Haaland File Appeal in Florida Gaming Compact Lawsuit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The US Circuit Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia also consolidated the government's appeal with one filed by the Seminole Tribe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/interior-department-haaland-appeal-ruling-against-seminole-florida-gaming-compact\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-26T12:56:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-26T21:27:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/secretaryhaaland.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Bittenbender\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Bittenbender\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/interior-department-haaland-appeal-ruling-against-seminole-florida-gaming-compact\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/interior-department-haaland-appeal-ruling-against-seminole-florida-gaming-compact\/\",\"name\":\"Interior Dept, Haaland File Appeal in Florida Gaming Compact Lawsuit\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/interior-department-haaland-appeal-ruling-against-seminole-florida-gaming-compact\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/interior-department-haaland-appeal-ruling-against-seminole-florida-gaming-compact\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/secretaryhaaland.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-26T12:56:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-26T21:27:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2\"},\"description\":\"The US Circuit Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia also consolidated the government's appeal with one filed by the Seminole Tribe\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/interior-department-haaland-appeal-ruling-against-seminole-florida-gaming-compact\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/interior-department-haaland-appeal-ruling-against-seminole-florida-gaming-compact\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/interior-department-haaland-appeal-ruling-against-seminole-florida-gaming-compact\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/secretaryhaaland.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/secretaryhaaland.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland makes a statement in April 2021 on climate change. 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He also specializes in sports betting and horse racing. Steve is a veteran reporter and brings more than two decades of experience covering sports, business and politics. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Steve has also covered major collegiate and professional sports for the Associated Press and the Louisville Courier-Journal and is frequently featured on local network TV newscasts and podcasts for his horse racing business and legislative expertise. A Reuters contributor, he has also previously served as editor for Government Security News. Steve lives in Louisville, Kentucky -- the epicenter of the US horse racing industry -- with his wife and son. He is also an avid poker player, having learned from his uncle as a wholesome after-school pastime with cookies and milk. 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