State of Texas v. Ysleta del Sur Pueblo

955 F.3d 408
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedApril 2, 2020
Docket19-50400
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 955 F.3d 408 (State of Texas v. Ysleta del Sur Pueblo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State of Texas v. Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, 955 F.3d 408 (5th Cir. 2020).

Opinion

Case: 19-50400 Document: 00515370324 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/02/2020

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

FILED No. 19-50400 April 2, 2020 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk STATE OF TEXAS,

Plaintiff–Appellee,

v.

YSLETA DEL SUR PUEBLO; THE TRIBAL COUNCIL; TRIBAL GOVERNOR MICHAEL SILVAS OR HIS SUCCESSOR,

Defendants–Appellants.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas

Before DENNIS, GRAVES, and WILLETT, Circuit Judges. DON R. WILLETT, Circuit Judge: For a generation, the State of Texas and a federally recognized Indian tribe, the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, have litigated the Pueblo’s attempts to conduct various gaming activities on its reservation near El Paso. This latest case poses familiar questions that yield familiar answers: (1) which federal law governs the legality of the Pueblo’s gaming operations—the Restoration Act (which bars gaming that violates Texas law) or the more permissive Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (which “establish[es] . . . Federal standards for gaming on Indian lands”); and (2) whether the district court correctly enjoined the Pueblo’s gaming operations. Our on-point precedent conclusively resolves this case. The Restoration Act controls, the Pueblo’s gaming is prohibited, and we affirm. Case: 19-50400 Document: 00515370324 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/02/2020

No. 19-50400

I. BACKGROUND A. The Restoration Act In 1987, Congress passed and President Reagan signed the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama and Coushatta Indian Tribes of Texas Restoration Act. 1 But the Pueblo’s “restoration” came with a catch: In exchange for having its federal trust status restored, 2 the Pueblo agreed that its gaming activities would comply with Texas law. Section 107(a) of the Restoration Act is unequivocal: All gaming activities which are prohibited by the laws of the State of Texas are hereby prohibited on the reservation and on lands of the tribe. Any violation of the prohibition provided in this subsection shall be subject to the same civil and criminal penalties that are provided by the laws of the State of Texas. The provisions of this subsection are enacted in accordance with the tribe’s request in Tribal Resolution No. T.C.-02-86[.] 3 The Tribal Resolution is similarly clear. The Pueblo requested that Congress add language to § 107 “which would provide that all gaming, gambling, lottery, or bingo, as defined by the laws and administrative regulations of the State of Texas, shall be prohibited on the Tribe’s reservation or on tribal land.” And it committed “to prohibit outright any gambling or bingo in any form on its

1 Pub. L. 100-89; 25 U.S.C. § 1300g et seq. The updated United States Code omits the Restoration Act, but as we noted last year, “the Restoration Act is still in effect.” Texas v. Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Tex., 918 F.3d 440, 442 n.1 (5th Cir. 2019). The Act is available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-101/pdf/STATUTE-101-Pg666.pdf. 2 Pub. L. 100-89, 101 Stat 666 (1987); 25 U.S.C. § 1300g et seq. In 1968, Congress recognized the Pueblo as a tribe and transferred trust responsibilities to Texas. S. Rep. No. 100-90 (1987), at 7. In 1983, however, the Texas Attorney General decided that the State could not continue a trust relationship with any Indian tribe because such an agreement discriminates between tribal members and other Texans based on national origin in violation of the State Constitution. Jim Mattox, Opinion Re: Enforcement of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code within the Confines of the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation, No. JM-17 (Mar. 22, 1983). So the Pueblo and another Texas tribe sought a federal trust relationship instead. See S. Rep. No. 100-90 (1987), at 7. 3 Pub. L. 100-89, § 107(a); 25 U.S.C. § 1300g-6(a). 2 Case: 19-50400 Document: 00515370324 Page: 3 Date Filed: 04/02/2020

reservation.” Finally, § 107(c) gives Texas a mechanism to enforce the gaming ban: “bringing an action in the courts of the United States to enjoin violations of the provisions of this section.” 4 B. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act Not all tribes fall under the Restoration Act. Many tribes conduct gaming operations under the less restrictive structure of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Enacted one year after the Restoration Act, IGRA aimed to establish uniform standards “to regulate gaming activity on Indian lands if the gaming activity is not specifically prohibited by Federal law and is conducted within a State which does not, as a matter of criminal law and public policy, prohibit such gaming activity.” 5 IGRA defines three classes of gaming, with varying levels of regulation: • “Class I gaming” includes “social games solely for prizes of minimal value or traditional forms of Indian gaming” associated with “tribal ceremonies or celebrations.” 6 IGRA tribes have “exclusive jurisdiction” over class I gaming. 7

• “Class II gaming” includes bingo and card games “explicitly authorized” or “not explicitly prohibited” by state law. 8 But the definition excludes “electronic or electromechanical facsimiles of any game of chance or slot machines of any kind.” 9 IGRA tribes may regulate class II gaming provided that they issue a self-regulatory ordinance approved by the National Indian Gaming Commission, which administers IGRA. 10

4 Pub. L. 100-89, § 107(c); § 1300g-6(c). 5 25 U.S.C. § 2701(5). 6 Id. §§ 2703(6), 2710(a)(1). 7 Id. § 2710(a)(1). 8 Id. § 2703(7)(A). 9 Id. §§ 2703(7)(A), (B). 10 Id. § 2710(b). 3 Case: 19-50400 Document: 00515370324 Page: 4 Date Filed: 04/02/2020

• “Class III gaming” includes all forms of gaming not included in class I or II, such as slot machines, roulette, and blackjack.11 Class III gaming is prohibited unless the tribe obtains federal and state approval. 12

C. The Pueblo’s Gaming Activities & Prior Litigation Since obtaining federal status under the Restoration Act, the Pueblo has repeatedly pursued gaming, and the State of Texas has repeatedly opposed it: • Ysleta I: In 1993, the Pueblo sued Texas, arguing that the State refused to negotiate a compact in good faith under IGRA that would permit Class III gaming. 13 We disagreed, explaining that “the Tribe has already made its ‘compact’ with the State of Texas, and the Restoration Act embodies that compact.” 14 We concluded “not only that the Restoration Act survives today but also that it—and not IGRA—would govern the determination of whether gaming activities proposed by the [] Pueblo are allowed under Texas law, which functions as surrogate federal law” on the lands of Restoration Act tribes. 15

• Ysleta II: In 1999, Texas sued the Pueblo to enjoin gaming on the reservation. 16 The district court granted summary judgment for the State. 17 It concluded that the Pueblo’s gaming did not comply with Texas laws and regulations and forbade the Pueblo from engaging in “‘regulated’ gaming activities unless it complies with the pertinent regulations.” 18 After considering equitable factors, the district court permanently enjoined the

11 Id. § 2703(8). 12 Id. § 2710(d). 13 Ysleta del Sur Pueblo v. Texas (“Ysleta I”), 36 F.3d 1325, 1325 (5th Cir. 1994). 14 Id. at 1335. 15 Id. 16 Texas v. del Sur Pueblo (“Ysleta II”), 220 F. Supp. 2d 668, 687 (W.D. Tex.

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Bluebook (online)
955 F.3d 408, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-texas-v-ysleta-del-sur-pueblo-ca5-2020.