A federal judge seems ready to move forward with the appeal case involving the Cowlitz Indian Tribe’s efforts to build a mega casino near the La Center I-5 junction.
Which way Judge Barbara J. Rothstein allows the case to proceed at this point seems to be anyone’s guess, however.
On March 7, Rothstein denied a motion by Clark County and fellow plaintiffs to throw out a revised opinion filed on behalf of the tribe last fall. However, later the same day, Rothstein sent a note to all parties involved informing them that she was reconsidering that decision to deny the motion.
“The judge recognizes that this is a complicated matter,’’ said John Bockmier, a Vancouver-based consultant who represents La Center’s four existing cardrooms. “Evidence of that recognition would be that after the hearing ended (March 7), the court reviewed the transcripts and notified all parties that it is reconsidering the earlier ruling from the bench and is taking the matter under advisement.’’
The owners and operators of La Center’s four existing cardrooms (Dragonslayer Inc. and Michels Development) are joined as plaintiffs in the case by Clark County, the City of Vancouver, nearby property owners Al Alexanderson and Greg and Susan Gilbert; and Citizens Against Reservation Shopping.
Bockmier indicated the legal team arguing the case for appeal considered the March 7 series of events to be unprecedented.
“I have no idea on the time frame of the reconsideration,’’ Bockmier said. “I don’t know if we will hear back in a week, a month, or when.’’
In addition to originally denying the plaintiff’s motion, then later reconsidering, Rothstein also set a briefing schedule for the case to move forward. That move pleased all parties in the appeal case, which is already two years old. A trial date, however, has not been set.
“Once all the briefs are filed, it’s in the discretion of the court to set a schedule,’’ said Bill Iyall, chairman of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe. “We expect it to be done in a timely manner. The impression I have is that she (Rothstein) is concerned about the schedule and we’re certainly happy that the schedule is getting to be a priority.’’
Iyall was in Washington, DC for the court proceedings March 7. When reached by phone a day later, he was unaware of any indication from Rothstein that the judge was reconsidering her position, as stated by Bockmier.
“She said in her order yesterday (March 7) that she was denying the motion,’’ Iyall said. “She didn’t say anything about reconsidering it.’’
The revised opinion Rothstein was ruling on March 7, in the form of a Supplemental Record of Decision, was filed in response to a prior judge’s Oct. 5, 2012 deadline for the legal team representing the U.S. Department of the Interior to respond to his denial of their request for a remand in the case.
The Department of Interior attorneys represent the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), which issued a 2010 decision to allow the Cowlitz Tribe to take the 152 acres near the La Center I-5 junction into trust in order to build the mega casino.
In its motion for a remand, the attorneys acknowledged to the court that it had misplaced, or not received, key portions of the administrative record in the case and therefore did not address those elements of the matter in its record. The judge gave the attorneys until Oct. 5, 2012 to inform the court if they would proceed with the case in spite of the fact those materials weren’t addressed, or else rescind the BIA’s 2010 decision to allow the Cowlitz to take the 152 acres into trust.
Instead of choosing either of those options, the Department of the Interior legal team attempted to address the omission in its previous filings with the Supplemental Record of Decision. That strategy led to the filing of the motion to dismiss by the legal team representing the plaintiffs.
After that filing, U.S. District Judge Richard W. Roberts was replaced on the case by Rothstein, whose first action on the case was the events that took place on March 7.
