The La Center card rooms have chosen to once again appeal their case that would stop the Ilani Resort from opening, this time to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Cowlitz Tribe will have to defend its status as a federally-recognized tribe and consequent right to have reservation land one more time if the U.S. Supreme Court decides to hear the case.
Opponents who are left battling the U.S. Department of Interior’s decision to give the tribe land in a trust, allowing for the creation of the Ilani Casino, include La Center card room owners, Citizens Against Reservation Shopping and three other private citizens. The case has slowly worked its way up the court system, but the opponents have lost at every level. As time has gone on, several opponents have dropped out, such as the city of Vancouver and most recently Clark County after losing at the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in July.
“They (the Board of County Councilors) determined that the best interests of Clark County would be furthered by working with the Tribe to manage and mitigate the impacts of the casino development, rather than continuing with the litigation,” said Christine Cook, senior deputy prosecuting attorney for the county.
“We are very encouraged by our strengthening relationships with Clark County and the City of Vancouver,” said Bill Iyall, chairman of the Cowlitz Tribe.
For a while, it was possible there would be no further challenge from the La Center card rooms either until an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was made last week. In essence, the combined opponents argue that the government shouldn’t have given the Cowlitz Tribe land that allows casino gaming because of a 2009 Supreme Court ruling that reservation land can only be put into trust for tribes federally recognized by 1934, and the Cowlitz Tribe wasn’t recognized until 2002.
The tribe’s rebuttal is that they have in fact been a tribe since the 1800s, but were mistakenly not recognized because of a scattered population. When the tribe won a petition with the Department of the Interior to take into trust a parcel of land that would be declared their “initial reservation,” that is when plans for a large casino were put in motion and conflict arose.
“It is unfortunate that the owners of the card rooms in La Center continue to undermine the significant economic development the Cowlitz Tribe is bringing to our community by filing an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruling,” said Iyall.
As for the card room owners, spokesman John Bockmier said it’s all about principle for them at this point.
“We have another opportunity here, so we’re going to take it. We absolutely believe in our case,” he said.
Though the case has now reached the highest level in the court system, there’s no guarantee it will be heard. According to civilrights.org, the Supreme Court recieves about 7,000 requests each year but only hears about 80 of them and decides another 50 without hearing arguments. Those numbers make for a roughly less than 2 percent chance the justices will take a look at it.
Bockmier says he and the owners understand the odds are very slim and anyone who expects a requested case to actually be taken by the Supreme Court is “misguided.” If it were to be heard though, Bockmier says they still think they would have a shot at winning.
