Without comment, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal of a ruling that blocked the U.S. Interior Department from allowing Class III gaming in Texas after the state refused to negotiate a gaming compact with the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe. The court’s move could affect Alabama’s Poarch Creek gaming tribe.

Both tribes  have tried for years to get state gaming compacts that would let them supplement or replace their extensive bingo operations with slot machines. Federal law requires compacts for Class III slots but not for Class II bingo machines.

Alabama’s attorney general has sued in U.S. District Court in Mobile to prevent Interior from approving a Poarch Creek compact in lieu of one that Alabama refuses to discuss with the tribe.

Interior also stepped into Texas with “secretarial procedures” to let Kickapoo install slots at its Eagle Pass Casino. The state sued over being “forced” to accept gambling its laws deemed illegal, and the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the state in August 2007.

The U.S. Justice Department decided not to appeal, although it disagreed with the Fifth Circuit decision to gut secretarial procedure sections in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Like Texas, Justice urged the top court not to hear Kickapoo’s appeal.

By GGB Staff

Staff writers for Global Gaming Business magazine. Las Vegas, Nevada.