Court allows anti-casino lawsuit to proceed
Saturday, Jun 20, 2009
FLORENCE — The Oregon Supreme Court ruled that a Florence citizen group can question the agreement between the governor and the tribes running the Three Rivers Casino that allows it to operate.
The People Against a Casino Town, their legal actions stalled in the courts for nearly six years, say that after the latest ruling on Thursdaythey will move forward with their case against the governor.
PACT attorneys argue that the Three Rivers Casino and casinos statewide exist against the Oregon Constitution, which outlaws casinos.
But the state has withstood the group’s challenge since it began filing lawsuits to halt the casino in 2003. With Thursday’s ruling, the group believes the state finally will have to defend itself.
“(The Oregon Supreme Court) cut through all the technicalities and said, ‘These people have a right to an answer from their governor,’ ” said Kelly Clark, an attorney representing PACT.
The Lane County Circuit Court first dismissed a PACT lawsuit to block the casino in 2004 before the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians had even broken ground on Three Rivers Casino.
Until June 2008, the group was “bounced from court to court to court,” Clark said. “The whole time we’ve been jumping up and down saying, ‘It doesn’t matter to us. We just want an answer to the question.’ ”
A year ago, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that the case should be heard on its merits.
Attorneys for the group said then they expected to have their day in court.
Clark said after Thursday’s ruling, which upholds the 2008 appeals court ruling, the state has “literally” run out of loopholes and now the sides will have their day in court.
“It means we have our ticket to get into the game,” Clark said. “It’s a procedural win only, (but) I would say it is significant because of what the Supreme Court didn’t say. They didn’t say, ‘There’s no hope for you to win on the merits.’ ”
Clark said the decision applies pressure to the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, who own the Florence casino and have faced opposition from PACT since before it opened.
“It’s got the tribes rightly on edge,” he said. “They’ve gone into this thing knowing they were facing this trial and they decided to dump all this money into the casino anyway.”
Tribal Chairman Bob Garcia said the trial will not affect the tribes or its casino because tribes are free to operate casinos as long as Oregon remains a gambling state.
PACT’s argument will fail because tribes are exempt from state law and answer instead to federal law, he added.
“Everyone needs to understand that tribal lands are not Oregon lands,” Garcia said. “Oregon law does not apply on tribal land.”
He is confident that regardless of the outcome in court, Three Rivers Casino will continue to draw Oregonians who want to have a good time.
“It’s not the same thing as what you have in Las Vegas,” he said. “It’s a nice, very conservative locals casino. We’re not in the gambling business, we’re in the entertainment business.”
The case will return to Lane County Circuit Court, where Clark expects a hearing in the next few months and a trial in the fall. He believes a decision may be reached by the end of the year.
Garcia said that while a trial won’t hurt the casino or the tribe, it is a waste of state resources that could be better spent. In the midst of a budget crisis, Garcia said, “Why waste one dollar on this frivolous lawsuit?”
