On Tuesday (21 May) West Flagler and Associates (WFA) discounted a recent argument by the the US Department of Justice (DoJ) in the Florida sports betting case. The reply from the pari-mutuels suing the federal government is the final piece needed before the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) considers whether or not it will take the case.
WFA argues that the 2021 Florida-Seminole tribe compact explicitly allows for wagering outside of Indian Country. That allowance, it says, violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). Last week, the DoJ wrote that the validity of the compact isn’t a federal issue and it doesn’t violate IGRA. Further, the DoJ argued that the US Department of the Interior’s (DoI) decision to allow the compact to become “deemed approved” does not violate any laws, state or federal.
WFA filed a writ of certiorari with the supreme court in April. At issue in the Florida wagering case is whether the DoI should have approved a compact that gives the Seminoles exclusivity to..
