Crosby Lodge, Inc. v. National Indian Gaming Commission

803 F. Supp. 2d 1198, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31834, 2011 WL 888242
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedMarch 14, 2011
DocketNo. 3:06-CV-00657-LRH-RAM
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 803 F. Supp. 2d 1198 (Crosby Lodge, Inc. v. National Indian Gaming Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crosby Lodge, Inc. v. National Indian Gaming Commission, 803 F. Supp. 2d 1198, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31834, 2011 WL 888242 (D. Nev. 2011).

Opinion

ORDER

LARRY R. HICKS, District Judge.

Before the court is Plaintiff Crosby Lodge, Inc.’s (“Crosby”) Motion for Summary Judgment (# 661). Defendant National _ Indian Gaming Commission (“NIGC”) has filed a cross-motion for summary judgment and an opposition to Crosby’s motion (# 71).

I. Facts and Procedural History

This is a civil dispute challenging the adoption and enforcement of 25 C.F.R. § 522.10(c), a regulation promulgated by the NIGC pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (“IGRA”), 25 U.S.C. §§ 2701-2721. The regulation requires Indian tribes that license individually owned gaming operations to mandate by tribal ordinance “that not less than 60 percent of the net revenues be income to the Tribe.” 25 C.F.R. § 522.10(c).

Crosby operates a business on the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation in Washoe County, Nevada. The business primarily consists of a convenience store, a bar, a motel, a gasoline station, and boat storage. The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe (the “Tribe”) has also licensed Crosby to conduct class III gaming on the property.2 As such, Crosby operates fifteen slot machines on its premises. The owners of Crosby are private individuals who are not members of the Tribe.

In accordance with IGRA’s requirements, on August 4, 1997, the Tribe and the State of Nevada entered into a gaming compact governing class III gaming within the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation, and on January 6, 1998, the Secretary of the Interior approved the compact. The compact expressly authorizes the licensing of non-tribal class III. gaming within the reservation, subject to the concurrent jurisdiction of the Tribe and the State of Nevada. The compact also requires the Tribe to adopt a taxation scheme at least as stringent as the State of Nevada’s.

In 1999, the Tribe adopted a Tribal Gaming Ordinance (“ordinance”), and on July 19, 2000, the NIGC approved the ordinance. The ordinance prohibits class III gaming unless a person or entity complies with the terms of the gaming compact and receives a license from the Tribal Gaming Commission. Neither the Tribe’s ordinance nor the Tribal-State compact include a specific provision requiring sixty [1202]*1202percent of the net revenue of non-tribal class III gaming be income to the Tribe as required by 25 C.F.R. § 522.10(c).

On May 20, 2004, the NIGC’s General Counsel sent a letter to the Tribe stating, pursuant to 25 C.F.R. § 522.10(c), sixty percent of the proceeds from individually owned operations on the reservation must go to the Tribe. On September 27, 2005, the NIGC’s General Counsel sent another letter to the Tribe specifically discussing Crosby and stating that Crosby must meet certain requirements, including giving sixty percent of its revenue to the Tribe. On August 16, 2006, the Pyramid Lake Tribal Gaming Commission informed Crosby that, pursuant to 25 C.F.R. § 522.10(c), Crosby owed the Tribe sixty percent of its “net revenue.” Crosby paid the amount due under protest.

On December 1, 2006, Crosby filed a complaint alleging that the NIGC exceeded its statutory jurisdiction in enacting 25 C.F.R. § 522.10(c) and that the regulation is unlawful pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 706. On February 22, 2010, Crosby filed its motion for summary judgment. The NIGC subsequently filed its own cross-motion for summary judgment.

II. Legal Standard

Summary judgment is appropriate only when “the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). In assessing a motion for summary judgment, the evidence, together with all inferences that can reasonably be drawn therefrom, must be read in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); County of Tuolumne v. Sonora Cmty. Hosp., 236 F.3d 1148, 1154 (9th Cir.2001).

The moving party bears the burden of informing the court of the basis for its motion, along with evidence showing the absence of any genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). On those issues for which it bears the burden of proof, the moving party must make a showing that is “sufficient for the court to hold that no reasonable trier of fact could find other than for the moving party.” Calderone v. United States, 799 F.2d 254, 259 (6th Cir.1986); see also Idema v. Dreamworks, Inc., 162 F.Supp.2d 1129, 1141 (C.D.Cal.2001). For those issues where the moving party will not bear the burden of proof at trial, the moving party must point out to the court “that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party’s case.” Catrett, 477 U.S. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548.

To successfully rebut a motion for summary judgment, the non-moving party must point to facts supported by the record which demonstrate a genuine issue of material fact. Reese v. Jefferson Sch. Dist. No. 14J, 208 F.3d 736 (9th Cir.2000). A “material fact” is a fact “that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Where reasonable minds could differ on the material facts at issue, summary judgment is not appropriate. See v. Durang, 711 F.2d 141, 143 (9th Cir.1983). A dispute regarding a material fact is considered genuine “if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. The mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of the plaintiffs position will be insufficient to establish a genuine dispute; there must be evidence on which [1203]*1203the jury could reasonably find for the plaintiff. See id.

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Bluebook (online)
803 F. Supp. 2d 1198, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31834, 2011 WL 888242, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crosby-lodge-inc-v-national-indian-gaming-commission-nvd-2011.