Jamul Action Committee v. Chaudhuri

200 F. Supp. 3d 1042, 2016 WL 4192407, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104359
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedAugust 8, 2016
DocketNo. 2:13-cv-01920-KJM-KJN
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 200 F. Supp. 3d 1042 (Jamul Action Committee v. Chaudhuri) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jamul Action Committee v. Chaudhuri, 200 F. Supp. 3d 1042, 2016 WL 4192407, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104359 (E.D. Cal. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER

Kimberly Mueller, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

The plaintiffs in this action are a group of individuals, a non-profit association, and a community church from Jamul, California. For convenience, in this order the court refers to them together as the Jamul Action Committee (JAC), the first plaintiff named in the caption. In this lawsuit the JAC asks the court to stop construction of a casino on the Jamul Indian Village’s land, among related requests for declaratory relief. In short, the JAC alleges the casino is illegal because it is being constructed on land that federal law does not make eligible for gambling.

The defendants, who include federal officials, members of the Jamul Indian Village, and private corporations tasked with the construction and eventual management of the casino, move to dismiss the case on a number of jurisdictional and other grounds. The Jamul Indian Village itself is not a party. The court held a hearing on April 22, 2016. Kenneth Williams appeared for the JAC; Barbara Marvin, Judith Rabi-nowitz, and Vicki Boesch appeared for the federal defendants; and Frank Lawrence appeared for the defendants associated with the Jamul Indian Village. The motions to dismiss are granted in part, as explained below.

I. ALLEGATIONS AND CLAIMS

As a preliminary matter, although the JAC alleges the Jamul Indian Village is not a federally recognized Indian tribe, Second Am. Compl. (SAC) ¶44, ECF No. 51,1 the court has in previous orders decided the opposite is true, Order on Prelim. Inj. at 2, ECF No. .93; Order on Mot. Dismiss at 7, ECF No. 50. This court is not the only one to have reached this conclusion. See Jamul Action Comm. v. Chaudhuri, — F.3d —, —, 2016 WL 3910597, at *1 (9th Cir. June 9, 2016); Rosales v. United States, 89 Fed.Cl. 565, 571-72 & nn. 2-3 (2009); Rosales v. United States, No. 07-0624, 2007 WL 4233060, at *5 & n. 4 (S.D.Cal. Nov. 28, 2007). The court therefore refers to the Jamul Indian Village as “the Tribe” in this order.

The JAC filed this lawsuit after the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) published a notice in the Federal Register in April 2013, which stated that the NIGC [1045]*1045would prepare a statement on the environmental impacts of an agreement between the Tribe and defendant San Diego Gaming Ventures, LLC (SDGV). 78 Fed. Reg. 21,398 (Apr. 10, 2013);2 see also SAC ¶2. According to the NIGC’s notice, SDGV would manage a casino the Tribe planned for construction outside Jamul, California. See 78 Fed. Reg. 21,399. The notice also explained that the casino would be constructed “on the Tribe’s Reservation.” Id. In a previous notice published in the Federal Register more than a decade earlier, the NIGC and Bureau of Indian Affairs had not referred to this land as the Tribe’s “Reservation.” See Notice of Intent, 67 Fed. Reg. 16,582 (Apr. 2, 2002); see also Notice, 68 Fed. Reg. 1,476 (Jan. 10, 2003).

The JAC understood the NIGC’s April 2013 notice as a formal declaration that the Tribe “has a Reservation that qualifies as ‘Indian lands’ eligible for gaming” under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). SAC ¶ 2. In the JAC’s view, this determination runs counter to federal law, because although the Tribe may have a beneficial interest in the land in question, that land “is not a reservation or trust land” as defined by IGRA. SAC ¶ 72; see also id. ¶ 35 (citing 25 U.S.C. § 2703(4)3). Rather, the JAC alleges the Tribe is not a federally recognized Indian tribe. See id. ¶¶ 31-38, 40-46. It argues the land the NIGC referred to as a “Reservation” cannot be a reservation because it is not one of the few areas so denominated and specifically established by federal law, ,id. ¶¶ 26-28, and an Indian tribe may not unilaterally create a reservation, id. ¶ 73. It also alleges the federal government never took the land into trust for the Tribe’s benefit under the procedures adopted by the United States Department of the Interior. See id. ¶¶ 27-38.

In July 2013, Tracie Stevens,1 the NIGC’s chairperson at the time, approved a gaming ordinance for the Tribe’s proposed casino that allowed “Class III” gaming, i.e., casino gambling. Id. ¶ 67; see also 25 U.S.C. § 2710 (IGRA provisions on the approval of an Indian tribe’s gaming ordinances); Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Cmty., — U.S. —, 134 S.Ct. 2024, 2028-29, 188 L.Ed.2d 1071 (2014) (describing Class III gaming under IGRA). NIGC also allegedly approved a contract between the Tribe and SDGV before January 2014, SAC ¶ 68, and construction began in January 2014, id. ¶ 69. In fact, however, it appears a gaming management contract still has not been approved. See Order on Prelim. Inj. at 7-8; Status Order Nov. 4, 2015, at 7, ECF No. 115.

The JAC asserts six claims for relief. First, it challenges the casino’s construction because the Tribe is not a federally recognized Tribe and the real property on which the casino will sit is not “Indian lands.” SAC ¶ 75. The JAC’s briefing and argument at hearing clarified this first claim is asserted against NIGC under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Opp’n Tribe Defs.’ Mot. 7, ECF No. 143; Opp’n Fed. Defs.’ Mot. 4, ECF No. 144. It claims the NIGC arbitrarily and capri[1046]*1046ciously (1) defined the Tribe’s land as a “Reservation” or land otherwise designated “Indian lands,” (2) approved the gaming ordinance, and (3) approved the gaming management and other contracts. It seeks an order enjoining construction of a casino on the Tribe’s land. SAC ¶¶ 83-84. It asks the court to reverse the NIGC’s approvals. Id. ¶ 85.

In its second claim, the JAC asserts construction of a casino will violate the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (IRA) because the Tribe did not exist in 1934 when that legislation was passed. See id. ¶ 91. In its opposition briefing and at hearing, the JAC clarified that it brings this claim against the U.S. Department of the Interior and Bureau of Indian Affairs under the APA. See Opp’n Tribe Defs.’ Mot. at 8-9; Opp’n Fed. Defs.’ Mot. at 5. It claims these agencies’ “efforts and actions” to take the land into trust were arbitrary, capricious, and illegal, Opp’n Tribe Defs.’ Mot. at 8-9; Opp’n Fed. Defs.’ Mot. at 5, and requests an order enjoining the casino’s construction.

Third, the JAC asserts a constitutional claim, alleging the various defendants’ collective decision to approve construction of a casino and begin construction “is an unconstitutional infringement on private land titles and on [California’s] plenary power to regulate its citizenry.” SAC ¶ 106. It also alleges the defendants give unconstitutional preference to the Tribe and its members without justification. See id. 11112. In its opposition briefing, the JAC clarified this claim is founded on principles of federalism and the Equal Protection Clause. Opp’n Tribe Defs.’ Mot. at 9-10; Opp’n Fed. Defs.’ Mot. at 6.

Fourth, the JAC alleges the casino’s construction violates the California constitution and public nuisance law, which permits gambling operations only by federally recognized Indian tribes on Indian lands. SAC ¶¶ 117-23.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
200 F. Supp. 3d 1042, 2016 WL 4192407, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104359, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jamul-action-committee-v-chaudhuri-caed-2016.