United States v. Farris

624 F.2d 890
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedJune 11, 1980
DocketNos. 78-3517, 78-3567, 79-1013, 79-1015, 79-1313, 79-1337 and 79-1338
StatusPublished
Cited by82 cases

This text of 624 F.2d 890 (United States v. Farris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Farris, 624 F.2d 890 (9th Cir. 1980).

Opinions

CHOY, Circuit Judge:

Appellants attack their convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 1955 on the ground that their large-scale gambling businesses on Indian trust land did not violate state law, and on other grounds. We affirm.

I. Background: The Law

Enacted as part of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, 18 U.S.C. § 1955 reads in pertinent part:

(a) Whoever conducts, finances, manages, supervises, directs, or owns all or part of an illegal gambling business shall be fined not more than $20,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
(b) As used in this section—
(1) “illegal gambling business” means a gambling business which—
(i) is a violation of the law of a State or political subdivision in which it is conducted ;
(ii) involves five or more persons who conduct, finance, manage, supervise, direct, or own all or part of such business; and
(iii) has been or remains in substantially continuous operation for a period in excess of thirty days or has a gross revenue of $2,000 in any single day.

(Emphasis added.)

We held in United States v. Sacco, 491 F.2d 995 (9th Cir. 1974) (en banc), that § 1955 “was aimed at curtailing syndicated gambling, the lifeline of organized crime, which provides billions of dollars each year to oil its diversified machinery.” Id. at 998. “Congress determined that organized crime posed a major threat to American society and that illegal gambling operations provided organized crime with its greatest source of revenue.” Id. at 999.

Judge Browning correctly says that § 1955 was designed to aid the enforcement of state law, especially where state enforcement is disabled by the corruption of state officials, but the statute also serves to further independent federal interests. Congress found that “illegal gambling involves widespread use of, and has an effect upon, interstate commerce and the facilities thereof,” id. at 999; moreover, “[t]he illicit operations were seen to distort the production of goods for commerce and the flow of goods in interstate commerce,” id. at 1000.

Section 1955 is constitutional, even as applied to cases with no connection with interstate commerce or organized crime. Id. at 999-1000. It is not unconstitutionally vague. Id. at 1001-02.

Since Congress has the power to “incorporate by reference” state law, § 1955 does not violate the equal protection component of the due process clause even though it “applies only in states where gambling is illegal.” Id. at 1003.

II. Background: The Facts

On the generally undisputed facts, appellants stand guilty under this section unless the words “violation of the law of a State” exempt them. In 1977 and 1978, appellants operated significantly profitable casinos on Puyallup Indian reservation land within one mile of Tacoma and 25 miles of Seattle. The casinos, without any approval or license [893]*893from the Washington State Gambling Commission, featured blackjack, poker and dice; their large net win was obtained at the expense of a clientele that included many non-Indians and some out-of-staters. Far-ris, Satiacum, Bertha Turnipseed and MacKenzie Turnipseed are Puyallup Indians; Baker, Powell, Lockwood, Painter and Ray Turnipseed are not.1

III. ■ Issues

A. Applicability of § 1955 to Indians

The Puyallup appellants first claim that § 1955 does not apply to them at all. However, federal laws generally applicable throughout the United States apply with equal force to Indians on reservations. For example, even as to Indians on reservations, federal jurisdiction extends “to crimes over which there is federal jurisdiction regardless of whether an Indian is involved, such as assaulting a federal officer.” United States v. Wheeler, 435 U.S. 313, 330 n. 30, 98 S.Ct. 1079, 1090, 55 L.Ed.2d 303 (1978); accord, Walks on Top v. United States, 372 F.2d 422 (9th Cir.) (assaulting a federal officer), cert. denied, 389 U.S. 879, 88 S.Ct. 109, 19 L.Ed.2d 170 (1967); see United States v. Burns, 529 F.2d 114 (9th Cir. 1976) (possession of firearm by a felon); Head v. Hunter, 141 F.2d 449 (10th Cir. 1944) (forgery to defraud the United States).

There seem to be three exceptions to this rule, but appellants fall within none. First, reservation Indians may well have exclusive rights of self-governance in purely intramural matters, unless Congress has removed those rights through legislation explicitly directed at Indians. See Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49, 55-56, 98 S.Ct. 1670, 1675, 56 L.Ed.2d 106, 113 (1978), citing Roff v. Burney, 168 U.S. 218, 18 S.Ct. 60, 42 L.Ed. 442 (1897) (tribal membership); Jones v. Meehan, 175 U.S. 1, 20 S.Ct. 1, 44 L.Ed. 49 (1899) (inheritance rules); and United States v. Quiver, 241 U.S. 602, 36 S.Ct. 699, 60 L.Ed. 1196 (1916) (domestic relations). Or, to put it another way, “Indian tribes retain exclusive jurisdiction over essential matters of reservation government, in the absence of specific Congressional limitation.” Arizona ex rel. Merrill v. Turtle, 413 F.2d 683, 684 (9th Cir. 1969), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 1003, 90 S.Ct. 551, 24 L.Ed.2d 494 (1970). But even a general federal law suffices to proscribe the large-scale professional gambling involved here; such gambling is neither profoundly intramural (the casinos’ clientele was largely non-Indian) nor essential to self-government.

Second, it is presumed that Congress does not intend to abrogate rights guaranteed by Indian treaties when it passes general laws, unless it makes specific reference to Indians. Antoine v. Washington, 420 U.S. 194, 95 S.Ct. 944, 43 L.Ed.2d 129 (1975); Menominee Tribe v. United States, 391 U.S. 404, 88 S.Ct. 1705, 20 L.Ed.2d 697 (1968); United States v. White, 508 F.2d 453 (8th Cir. 1974). But this rule applies only to subjects specifically covered in treaties, such as hunting rights; usually, general federal laws apply to Indians. E.

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624 F.2d 890, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-farris-ca9-1980.