"Casino-style gambling is illegal in Indian land in New Mexico under a
federal court decision Friday that could lead to the shutdown of tribal
casinos within the next two weeks. District Judge Martha Vazquez ruled
that gambling compacts signed last year by Gov. Gary Johnson and nine
pueblos are invalid. Under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, a
tribe cannot lawfully operate casino games without a state-tribal
agreement. ...U.S. Attorney John Kelly said he expects the 11 tribes with
casinos to close their gambling operations if the judge's decision isn't
stayed pending an appeal."
"Vazquez's decision was consistent with a ruling that Chief District Judge
John E. Conway handed down June 4 in another case involving he Mescalero
Apache Tribe....The pueblos involved in the case before Vazquez entered
into a court-approved stipulation last January that provides for the
shutdown of the casinos if the ruling went against the pueblos. Under
that agreement the pueblos must close the casinos by July 27 unless they
are able to have Vazquez's ruling stayed pending an appeal to the 10th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver." [Later in the article "other
lawyers involved in federal litigation have said courts rarely grant such
requests".]
"Vazquez based her decision on a state Supreme Court ruling a year ago
that the gaming compacts signed by Johnson and tribes were invalid because
they hadn't been approved by the Legislature. The Legislature, in its
session early this year, declined a request by the governor to approve the
compacts....Kelly [U.S. Attorney] said the casinos must close even if the
tribes and state begin negotiations on new compacts. `My guess,' Kelly
said, `is you're going to see the casinos closing and, if the matter is
taken up, it will be after casinos have gone out of business.'"