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For the petitioners in West Flagler, et al vs. Haaland, et al, it’s all over but the crying or getting ready for future hearings. Whether West Flagler Associates and its partners will see their challenge to the gaming compact between the state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida continue is up to the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).
The complainants have filed their response to the US Dept. of Justice’s (DOJ) reply to their petition for SCOTUS to hear their appeal of the case. While it represents their final chance to sway the minds of the justices, it probably won’t be the final time that counsel representing West Flagler will appear in a courtroom regarding the legality of that gaming compact.
West Flagler gets the last word in
There’s a give-and-take to being in West Flagler’s position right now as the party asking for SCOTUS to grant a review. While the onus is on West Flagler to convince the court that it needs to weigh in on this matter, West Flagler also gets the privilege of getting the last word in on the argument.
It did so on Tuesday when West Flagler replied to the DOJ’s response. The arguments therein don’t deviate greatly from its original petition to SCOTUS for certification.
Rather, they are somewhat stated differently to act as direct retorts to $1.
At this point, there will be no more filings from either party in this civil lawsuit. The only document that is forthcoming will state SCOTUS’ decision to either hear the appeal or not, along with the reasons behind that decision. It’s uncertain when that decision will come.
To understand West Flagler’s final arguments, it’s necessary to comprehend what this case is about and the path to this point.
A 2021 tribal gaming compact amendment fuels the controversy
In 2021, Florida’s state government and the Seminole Tribe of Florida agreed on an amendment to the gaming compact between themselves and the US government via the Dept. of the Interior (DOI). The compact made two significant changes to the framework.
The amendment allowed the Seminole Tribe to add new forms of gambling like several table games and in-person sports betting at its physical casinos within Florida’s borders. It also defined online sports betting throughout Florida via the Hard Rock Bets app as taking place on tribal lands because the servers hosting that activity were on Seminole territory.
Florida then made some changes to state law play. A certain set of circumstances could mean ramifications throughout the rest of the country, too.
Should SCOTUS hear the appeal and then uphold the appellate court opinion, other state and tribal governments could take that as a tacit approval of the system that Florida and the Seminole Tribe have worked out. They could try to replicate it.
That might mean greater access to online casino apps in more parts of the US, under tribal auspices. All of that exists purely in the realm of the hypothetical currently, though. At this moment, the tangible is limited to SCOTUS’ decision on West Flagler’s petition. Until that comes, it’s just a waiting game.
