Jenner & Block represented client Shoalwater Bay Tribe in a significant victory for Tribal sovereignty, in which the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari in RunItOneTime LLC v. United States, bringing a conclusive end to a challenge threatening tribal gaming compacts across Washington state.
The Supreme Court's decision upholds critical protections for Tribal sovereignty and ends RunItOneTime LLC's (formerly Maverick Gaming) lawsuit seeking to invalidate gaming compacts between Washington state and 29 Native American tribes. The company had characterized these agreements, which grant tribes the exclusive right to offer casino-style Class III games and sports betting, as a "discriminatory tribal gaming monopoly" violating the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and the Constitution's equal protection clause.
The Shoalwater Bay Tribe intervened in the dispute, maintaining that dismissal was required for failure to join the Tribes in Washington. A Washington federal district court and the Ninth Circuit agreed, holding that the absent Tribes were necessary and indispensable parties to this suit seeking to invalidate their gaming compacts. RunItOneTime petitioned the Supreme Court, but the Justices denied the petition.
According to Shoalwater Bay Tribe Chairman Quintin Swanson: "Maverick's suit threatened Shoalwater's bargained-for gaming compacts, its economic welfare, and its ability to fund critical government functions. We and other Tribes in Washington were the real parties in interest in this case, and the courts rightfully refused to allow Maverick to challenge our rights in our absence."
The team consisted of Partners Ian Heath Gershengorn and Keith Harper, and Associate Andy DeGuglielmo. Lenny Powell of Native American Rights Fund, Scott Crowell of Crowell Law Offices, and Lael Echo-Hawk of MThirtySix, PLCC served as co-counsel.