7 Tribes Sue to Win Full Casino Rights

Seven California Indian tribes, including one in San Diego County, have filed suit against the state seeking the right to offer full-fledged casino gambling, including blackjack and slot machines.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Sacramento, comes after six months of negotiations between the tribes and the attorney general’s office failed to produce gambling “compacts” outlining the games that will be allowed on Indian lands throughout the state.

The suit asks for authorization not only for a full spread of electronic slot machines but also for traditional casino games such as blackjack and baccarat. However, the tribes are not asking for machines that would spill out coins; rather they would spit out credits that could be redeemed at the front desk.

A similar lawsuit won full casino rights for tribes in Wisconsin.

In a sign that relations between the tribes and the state of California remain civil, the lawsuit was jointly announced this week by both sides--meaning they are, in effect, asking the courts to resolve their stalemate.

“We realized that we weren’t going to come to an agreement in negotiations on whether those games were permitted. Both sides agreed this is an appropriate mechanism,” said Deputy Atty. Gen. Cathy Christian, who has represented the state in negotiations.

Many tribes in California legally operate bingo halls, poker rooms and off-track betting parlors. But their bids to add electronic gambling machines prompted raids on four reservations late last year--three of them in San Diego County.

“We think it is unfair for the state to make money off gaming, but then to try to limit Indians’ right to do the same thing,” said Anthony R. Pico, a leader of the Viejas band and chairman of the California Indian Gaming. Assn.

Of the reservations raided in San Diego County, only Viejas in Alpine joined in the lawsuit. On Nov. 1, about $1,400 contained in several slot-type machines at the Viejas Casino & Turf Club was confiscated by sheriff’s deputies, along with the machines.

Officials at the two other reservations in East County, Barona and Sycuan, were not available for comment late Thursday.

In describing what they are seeking in the way of gambling machines, the tribes said: “None of the devices . . . would dispense coins or currency, utilize a drum or reel, or be activated by a handle. Player choices would be made by touching the video monitors or buttons on the devices, and winning players would receive computer-generated credit slips.”

State officials, however, say the tribes are simply trying to get modern video versions of slot-type gambling machines, which are clearly banned by state law. No fewer than 23 of the state’s reservations and smaller rancherias now have pending requests for such expansive gambling, Christian said.

While negotiations have stalled in many areas, the state has agreed in principle to allow “video lottery terminals,” according to Howard L. Dickstein, a Sacramento attorney who represents three of the tribes. This would allow Indian gambling halls to create fast-paced computerized games by linking a group of lottery-type terminals and having a master computer pick a winning number every few minutes “or shorter,” he said.

“They’ve agreed to video terminals for those kind of games. . . . But it didn’t seem a rational distinction between those games and (the ones state officials) feel they’re not obligated to negotiate,” Dickstein said, explaining why the tribes brought the federal lawsuit.

More than 150 tribes nationwide have turned to bingo and other games in the wake of court rulings and a 1988 federal law that gave them competitive advantages in gambling.

But their attempts to include video gambling machines--the centerpiece of Nevada casinos--suffered a setback earlier this month with the enactment of long-awaited regulations by the National Indian Gaming Commission, a federal panel created to oversee tribal gambling. Those regulations said reservations could not use the gambling devices without approval from their home states.

On May 12, federal agents raided five reservations in Arizona that persisted in using the gambling machines.

Although several California tribes still use the contested devices, Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren--who last year urged raids against illegal gambling on Indian lands--took a conciliatory stance this week in a statement announcing the Indians’ lawsuit.

“The state of California and the Indian tribes located here have stipulated to an orderly, dignified process for resolving our disagreements,” Lungren said. “We believe, as do the tribes, that the federal court is an appropriate forum for settling this dispute.”

Dickstein called Lungren’s statement “a considerable change in attitude toward Indian gaming,” which he attributed in part to public criticism of the recent Arizona raids.

Dickstein predicted that other California tribes will file suits similar to the one he helped draft. It argues that California is obligated to permit full casinos because it already “actively encourages” extensive gambling through off-track betting and its lottery.

In addition to the Viejas reservation, joining in the lawsuit are the Table Mountain Rancheria of Fresno County; the Rumsey Rancheria, Yolo County; the Trinidad Rancheria, Humboldt County; the San Manuel Reservation, San Bernardino County; the Cabazon Reservation, Riverside County, and the Hopland Band of Pomo Indians in Mendocino County.

Times staff writer John H. Lee contributed to this report.