A few days ago, the U.S. District Court in the state of California made its final decision about the claims, concerning the intention of the lipay Nation of Santa Ysabel to provide bingo games to local residents. The Court disapproved of tribe’s pretensions to offer Class II games in the Golden State.
Last week, the tribe’s bingo enterprise – Desert Rose Bingo, was temporarily suspended and the Judge Anthony J. Battaglia was the official who granted the suspension.
Desert Rose Bingo went live at the beginning of December but California authorities quickly took the measures necessary and requested the website to be temporarily closed until all issues are figured out and the Court makes its final decision.
Actually, the lipay Nation of Santa Ysabel tried to start providing online poker games but their attempts were unsuccessful and according to Battaglia the tribe is not likely to get the opportunity to offer such kind of games.
The Judge referred to the definitions of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and stated that the games the tribe is willing to provide correspond to Class III electronic games, which are prohibited on the territory of California.
Cruz Bustamante, a representative of the tribe, commented on the decision of the federal court and said that it came as a huge disappointment to the tribe.
He also added that California officials might not realize how dangerous such a decision could be. It is said to allow proxy play of games and one-touch bingo to be freely used by residents but it does not correspond to the federal law and permits the usage of technological upgrades for playing Class II bingo. Such injustice can have really negative consequences for Indian gambling affairs.
Before the establishment of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act federal laws were not applicable to the games, provided by tribes. Yet, the law gave the tribal lands the chance to undergo economic growth and ensure the games available provide sufficient revenue for tribes.
In case California authorities do not take all important issues into consideration, those that will suffer will be the small tribes, located not only in California but also in all the other states.
Yet, Cruz said that the tribes are not going to lose hope that things will change soon and the court will somehow come to terms with the essence of the game and its technological aspects.
In conclusion, Cruz also said that sooner or later, California authorities will realize that the games, provided by the tribe are absolutely compatible with the laws and they correspond to Class II games.
