A brand new authorized motion filed on September twenty sixth on the Supreme Court docket accused Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida’s Legislature of exceeding their energy by offering native tribes with the prospect to supply sports activities betting providers exterior their tribal lands with out voters’ approval.
After they misplaced the case within the federal appeals courtroom, a few pari-mutuel operators lodged a brand new lawsuit within the state’s Supreme Court docket asking the judges to annul the multi-billion-dollar settlement, which would supply the Seminole Tribe of Florida with management over sports activities betting providers within the state, to a sure extent.
The authorized problem was filed by Bonita-Fort Myers Corp. and West Flagler Associates and alleges the Seminole Tribe deal will get in battle with a constitutional modification from 2018, below which voter approval is critical in relation to casino-style playing growth. In the interim, Bonita-Fort Myers Corp. operates as Southwest Florida-located Bonita Springs Poker Room, whereas West Flagler holds three jai alai licenses.
As CasinoGamesPro beforehand reported, the controversial deal, also called a compact, was signed in 2021 by Governor Ron DeSantis, on one hand, and Marcellus Osceola, the Chairman of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, however. Then, it was formally ratified by state lawmakers.
Seminole Tribe’s Compact Violates 2018 Constitutional Modification, Lawsuit Alleges
As a part of the compact settlement, the Seminole Tribe was solely allowed to just accept sports activities bets positioned from cell units exterior its reservation lands, with the bets set to be processed by way of tribal land-based servers.
The final authorized motion that was filed on the Supreme Court docket as a part of the saga accused Governor DeSantis and native lawmakers of exceeding their energy by offering the tribe with unique rights to function sports activities betting providers exterior its reservation lands with out getting native voters’ approval. The 76-page lawsuit categorizes that as an “abuse of authority”. The authorized problem cited part of the constitutional modification below which Florida voters shall be granted the unique proper to resolve whether or not to permit on line casino playing within the state or not. Playing on tribal lands is exempt from the modification’s language.
As CasinoGamesPro beforehand defined, Modification 3 applies to casino-based playing providers and forms of playing which might be thought-about Class III playing below the provisions of federal legislation.
Now, the newest authorized motion accuses Governor DeSantis and lawmakers of setting up the sports activities betting plan in a option to circumvent the aforementioned constitutional requirement for native voters’ approval. The lawsuit alleges that Florida’s Governor and lawmakers sought to go across the necessities of the aforementioned constitutional modification by not limiting sports activities betting providers to tribal lands solely and avoiding the relevant provisions of the Florida Structure.
The brand new lawsuit got here because the pari-mutuel firms talked about above additionally referred to as for the US Supreme Court docket to overview the Seminole Tribe of Florida in a separate federal courtroom case that alleges the settlement breaches the provisions of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) below which playing on tribal lands is at the moment regulated.
