INDIAN CASINOS RETURN TO COURT : JUDGE WILL BE ASKED TO SHUT DOWN GAMES.Byline: Paul Hefner Daily News Sacramento Bureau In a showdown in a years-long legal battle, federal prosecutors will ask a judge today to order slot machines and blackjack blackjack, one of the world's most widely played gambling card games; also known as twenty-one or vingt-et-un. Despite contesting claims between the French and Italians, its origins are unknown. tables shut down at nine Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, Indian casinos. Officials for the U.S. Attorney's Office contend that the tribes are breaking the law by operating the casinos in Riverside, San Bernardino San Bernardino, city, United States San Bernardino (săn bûr'nədē`nō), city (1990 pop. 164,164), seat of San Bernardino co., S Calif., at the foot of the San Bernardino Mts.; inc. 1854. and Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. counties without first reaching an agreement with the state. ``We're asking them to obey the law,'' said Eliot F. Krieger, who filed a motion in U.S. District Court last month seeking a preliminary injunction A temporary order made by a court at the request of one party that prevents the other party from pursuing a particular course of conduct until the conclusion of a trial on the merits. A preliminary injunction is regarded as extraordinary relief. against the tribes. Tribal officials will fight the motion in court. They blame Gov. Pete Wilson For others named Pete Wilson, see . Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American Republican politician from California. Wilson served as the thirty-sixth Governor of California (1991–1999), the culmination of more than three decades in the public arena that for refusing until recently to negotiate gaming compacts with the tribes - and they want more time to strike a deal. A complex and controversial federal law approved by Congress in 1988 granted American Indian American Indian or Native American or Amerindian or indigenous American Any member of the various aboriginal peoples of the Western Hemisphere, with the exception of the Eskimos (Inuit) and the Aleuts. tribes the right to run gambling enterprises. Federal and state authorities contend that each tribe must also sign a compact with the state before running some games, including slot or video poker Video poker is a casino game based on five-card draw poker. It is played on a computerized console which is a similar size to a slot machine. History Video poker first became commercially viable when it became economical to combine a television-like monitor with a machines. But the tribes have special status, said Jerome Levine Jerome Paul Levine (May 4, 1937 – April 8, 2006) was a mathematician who contributed to the understanding of knot theory. Education and Career Born in New York City, Levine received his B.S. from M.I.T. in 1958, and his Ph.D. , an attorney representing two bands of American Indians American Indians: see Americas, antiquity and prehistory of the; Natives, Middle American; Natives, North American; Natives, South American. operating casinos. ``The tribes are governments,'' Levine said. ``They have certain fundamental rights to regulate themselves.'' Indian casinos have sprung up across rural California in recent years, from Redding Redding, city (1990 pop. 66,462), seat of Shasta co., N central Calif., on the Sacramento River; inc. 1872. A principal tourist center for a mountain and lake region, it also has lumbering, food-processing, and diverse manufacturing. to rural towns outside San Diego. Some 39 tribes have gambling operations of one form or another, from small card rooms and bingo halls to Las Vegas-style casinos. In many instances, video-gambling machines have been a key to their success, providing at least half - but sometimes nearly all - of gambling revenues, said Randy Takemoto, manager at Cache Creek, a casino outside Sacramento. The nine tribes cited in Krieger's motion operate more than 8,500 machines, along with more than 100 blackjack tables, according to court records. The casinos have brought new jobs both to tribe members and neighboring communities. More than 10,000 people work in Indian casinos statewide. The San Manuel Casino outside San Bernardino is the largest nongovernment employer in the region, said Rod Wilson, of the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians. ``It's an enormous chunk of the local employment,'' Wilson said. ``This is not just about the Indians - it's much larger than that.'' But the industry has grown up under a legal cloud. Both Gov. Wilson and Attorney General Dan Lungren have branded the operations as illegal - but they have no power over tribal lands. Federal authorities took no steps against the tribes while a series of cases played out in the courts. Earlier this year, they asked the tribes to agree to a May 1 deadline to reach an agreement with the state. Most of the tribes outside Southern California agreed to the deadline - which has now been extended three months while the state negotiates a model compact with a San Diego tribe. But most of the local tribes refused to agree to the deadline in the first place - triggering today's court session. Instead, the Indians have mounted a media blitz to try to pressure authorities to back down. Actors Chuck Norris and Steven Segal have appeared in commercials supporting Indian gaming. Tribes staged a protest outside the federal courthouse in Los Angeles. Levine said that the dispute is largely an economic issue. The Indians' success has competitors from Nevada and elsewhere fuming fuming /fum·ing/ (fum´ing) emitting a visible vapor. fum·ing adj. Producing or emitting smoke or vapor, as for certain concentrated nitric, sulfuric, and hydrochloric acids. , he said. ``Gaming has brought them a visibility they've never had before,'' he said. ``When they were starving in dry, arid lands out of anybody's sight, nobody cared about them.'' INDIAN CASINOS The U.S. Attorney's Office will go to court today to try to shut down nine Southern California casinos. They are: Chumash Casino Location: Highway 246 in Santa Ynez 850 video gambling machines, 17 blackjack tables, eight poker tables Spotlight 29 Casino The Spotlight 29 Casino is a Native American gambling enterprise in Coachella, California. It is run by the Twenty-nine Palms Band of Mission Indians. The facility has 110,000 square feet with 2,000 slot machines, 30 table games, and an 11 table poker room. Location: Coachella 750 video gambling machines, 12 blackjack tables, two poker tables Fantasy Springs Casino Location: Indio 600 video gambling machines, 15 blackjack tables, 12 poker tables Spa Casino Location: Palm Springs 1,255 video gambling machines, 12 blackjack tables and six poker tables Casino Morongo Location: Cabazon 1,400 video gambling machines, 13 blackjack tables, 15 poker tables, one pai gow table Soboba Casino Location: San Jacinto 560 video gambling machines, four blackjack tables, four poker tables, one pai gow table San Manuel Casino Location: Highland 1,500 video gambling machines, 25 blackjack tables, 23 poker tables, one pai gow table Pechanga Casino Location: Temecula 1,400 video gambling machines, 12 blackjack tables, eight poker tables Cahuilla Creek Casino Location: Anza. 204 video gambling machines, three blackjack tables Source: U.S. Attorney's Office CAPTION(S): box BOX: Indian casinos (see text) |
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