West Flagler Associates, Ltd. v. Debra Haaland ( 2023 )

United States Court of Appeals
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT
Argued December 14, 2022 Decided June 30, 2023
No. 21-5265
WEST FLAGLER ASSOCIATES, LTD., A FLORIDA LIMITED
PARTNERSHIP, DOING BUSINESS AS MAGIC CITY CASINO AND
BONITA-FORT MYERS CORPORATION, A FLORIDA
CORPORATION, DOING BUSINESS AS BONITA SPRINGS POKER
ROOM,
APPELLEES
v.
DEBRA A. HAALAND, IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS
SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE
INTERIOR AND UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE
INTERIOR,
APPELLEES
SEMINOLE TRIBE OF FLORIDA,
APPELLANT
Consolidated with 22-5022
Appeals from the United States District Court
for the District of Columbia
(No. 1:21-cv-02192)
2
Rachel Heron, Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice,
argued the cause for federal appellants. With her on the briefs
was Todd Kim, Assistant Attorney General.
Barry Richard argued the cause for appellant Seminole
Tribe of Florida. With him on the briefs were Joseph H.
Webster, Elliott A. Milhollin, and Kaitlyn E. Klass.
Barry Richard, Joseph H. Webster, Elliott A. Milhollin,
and Kaitlyn E. Klass were on the brief for amicus curiae
Seminole Tribe of Florida in support of federal appellants.
Henry C. Whitaker, Solicitor General, Office of the Attorney
General for the State of Florida, argued the cause for amicus
curiae State of Florida in support of federal appellants. With
him on the brief was Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and
Christopher J. Baum, Senior Deputy Solicitor General.
Scott Crowell was on the brief for amici curiae The
National Indian Gaming Association, et al. in support of federal
appellants.
Todd Kim, Assistant Attorney General, and Rachel Heron,
Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, were on the answering
brief for federal appellees.
Hamish P. M. Hume argued the cause for appellees West
Flagler Associates, Ltd, et al. With him on the brief were Amy
L. Neuhardt and Jon Mills.
Jenea M. Reed argued the cause for amici curiae Monterra
MF, LLC, et al. in support of appellees. With her on the brief
was Eugene E. Stearns.
3
Before: HENDERSON, WILKINS and CHILDS, Circuit
Judges.
Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge WILKINS.
WILKINS, Circuit Judge: In 2021, the Seminole Tribe of
Florida (“Tribe”) and the State of Florida entered into a
compact under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (“IGRA”),
the federal law that regulates gaming on Indian lands. That
gaming compact (“Compact”), along with accompanying
changes in state law, purported to permit the Tribe to offer
online sports betting throughout the state. The Compact
became effective when the Secretary of the Interior failed to
either approve or disapprove it within 45 days of receiving it
from the Tribe and Florida.
The Plaintiffs in this case, brick-and-mortar casinos in
Florida, object to the Secretary’s decision to allow the Compact
to go into effect because in their view, it impermissibly
authorizes gaming outside of Indian lands, violating IGRA.
They also believe that the Compact violates the Wire Act, the
Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, and the Fifth
Amendment, and that the Secretary was required to disapprove
the Compact for those reasons as well. The suit named as
Defendants the Secretary of the Interior and the Department of
the Interior, and the Tribe moved to intervene for the limited
purpose of filing a Rule 19 motion to dismiss based on its tribal
sovereign immunity. The District Court denied the Tribe’s
motion and granted summary judgment for the Plaintiffs,
finding that the Compact here “attempts to authorize sports
betting both on and off Indian lands[,]” in violation of “IGRA’s
‘Indian lands’ requirement.” W. Flagler Assocs. v. Haaland,
573 F. Supp. 3d 260, 273 (D.D.C. 2021).
4
We see the case differently. IGRA “regulate[s] gaming on
Indian lands, and nowhere else.” Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian
Cmty., 572 U.S. 782, 795 (2014). Thus, to be sure, an IGRA
gaming compact can legally authorize a tribe to conduct
gaming only on its own lands. But at the same time, IGRA
does not prohibit a gaming compact—which is, at bottom, an
agreement between a tribe and a state—from discussing other
topics, including those governing activities “outside Indian
lands[.]” Id. at 796. In fact, IGRA expressly contemplates that
a compact “may” do so where the activity is “directly related
to” gaming. 25 U.S.C. § 2710(d)(3)(C)(vii). The District
Court erred by reading into the Compact a legal effect it does
not (and cannot) have, namely, independently authorizing
betting by patrons located outside of the Tribe’s lands. Rather,
the Compact itself authorizes only the betting that occurs on
the Tribe’s lands; in this respect it satisfied IGRA. Whether it
is otherwise lawful for a patron to place bets from non-tribal
land within Florida may be a question for that State’s courts,
but it is not the subject of this litigation and not for us to decide.
Today, we hold only that the Secretary did not violate the
Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) in choosing not to act
and thereby allowing the Compact to go into effect by
operation of law. We also find the Plaintiffs’ remaining
challenges to the Compact meritless, as a matter of law.
Finally, because this decision will effectively keep intact
the Compact, resulting in minimal prejudice to the Tribe, we
affirm the denial of the Tribe’s motion to intervene, albeit on
different grounds than did the District Court. Accordingly, we
reverse and remand with instructions to enter judgment for the
Secretary.
5
I.
A.
In 1987, the Supreme Court held that states are powerless
to regulate gaming on Indian lands. California v. Cabazon
Band of Mission Indians, 480 U.S. 202 (1987). In response to
that decision, Congress the following year enacted IGRA, 25
U.S.C. § 2701 et seq., which “creates a framework” for doing
just that. Bay Mills, 572 U.S. at 785. Through IGRA, Congress
sought to “balance state, federal, and tribal interests.” Amador
Cnty. v. Salazar, 640 F.3d 373, 376 (D.C. Cir. 2011). IGRA’s
purposes include “promoting tribal economic development”
and “self-sufficiency,” “ensur[ing] that the Indian tribe is the
primary beneficiary of the gaming operation,” and “shield[ing]
[tribes] from organized crime and other corrupting
influences[.]” 25 U.S.C. § 2702. Both Cabazon and IGRA
“left fully intact” states’ “capacious” regulatory power outside
Indian territory. Bay Mills, 572 U.S. at 794.
IGRA “divides gaming into three classes.” Id. at 785.
Class III gaming, the kind at issue in this case, is “the most
closely regulated” and includes casino games, slot machines,
and sports betting. Id.; see also 25 U.S.C. § 2703(8). A tribe
may offer class III gaming on its own lands “only pursuant to,
and in compliance with, a compact it has negotiated with the
surrounding State.” Bay Mills, 572 U.S. at 785; see also 25
U.S.C. § 2710(d)(1)(C). “A compact typically prescribes rules
for operating gaming, allocates law enforcement authority
between the tribe and State, and provides remedies for breach
of the agreement’s terms.” Bay Mills, 572 U.S. at 785.
Before it takes effect, a tribal-state compact must be
approved by the Secretary of the Interior, with notice published
in the Federal Register. 25 U.S.C. § 2710(d)(3)(B). When
presented with a tribal-state compact, the Secretary can do one
6
of three things. See Amador Cnty., 640 F.3d at 377(summarizing the approval process). First, she may
affirmatively approve the compact. 25 U.S.C. § 2710(d)(8)(A).
Second, she “may disapprove” the compact, but “only if” the
compact violates IGRA, another federal law, or the federal
government’s trust obligations to Indians. Id. § 2710(d)(8)(B).
Third, if she does not act within 45 days, the compact is
“considered . . . approved[,]” “but only to the extent the
compact is consistent with the provisions of [IGRA].” Id.
§ 2710(d)(8)(C). The Secretary’s decision to take no action
within 45 days of receiving the compact, thereby allowing the
compact to go into effect under subsection (C), is judicially
reviewable. Amador Cnty., 640 F.3d at 383.
B.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida is a federally recognized
tribal government. In 2010, it entered into a tribal-state
compact with Florida, so that it could offer certain forms of
class III gaming on its lands. In 2021, the Tribe and Florida
entered into a new compact, the one at issue in this case
(“Compact”). At that time, sports betting was illegal
throughout the state, with exceptions not relevant here. Fla.
Stat. § 849.14. The Compact and related amendments to state
law changed this, purporting to allow the Tribe the exclusive
right to offer sports betting in the state, including online sports
betting by individuals not physically located on the Tribe’s
lands, as follows.
The Compact requires sports bets to be placed
“exclusively by and through one or more sports books
conducted and operated by the Tribe or its approved
management contractor[.]” J.A. 687 (Compact § III.CC.1).
Under the Compact, the Tribe and Florida in turn consider all
bets placed through the Tribe’s sports book, regardless of
7
where the person placing the bet is physically located within
the state, to occur where the sports book servers are located—
in other words, on tribal land:
The Tribe and State agree that the Tribe is
authorized to operate Covered Games on its
Indian lands, as defined in [IGRA]. . . . Subject
to limitations set forth herein, wagers on Sports
Betting . . . made by players physically located
within the State using a mobile or other
electronic device shall be deemed to take place
exclusively where received at the location of the
servers or other devices used to conduct such
wagering activity at a Facility on Indian Lands.
J.A. 692 (Compact § IV.A). Similar language appears in
another section of the Compact as well. J.A. 687 (Compact
§ III.CC.2).
The Tribe and Florida executed the Compact in April
2021, and the following month, Governor DeSantis signed a
bill that ratified and approved the Compact. That state law
adopted the same “deeming” language from the Compact
regarding the location of sports bets. Fla. Stat.
§ 285.710(13)(b)(7) (noting that all sports wagers “shall be
deemed to be exclusively conducted by the Tribe where the
servers or other devices used to conduct such wagering activity
on the Tribe’s Indian lands are located[,]” and that “[g]ames
and gaming activities authorized under this subsection and
conducted pursuant to a gaming compact . . . do not violate the
laws of this state”). In June, the Tribe transmitted the Compact
to Secretary Haaland for her review under IGRA. She did not
act within the 45-day window, and the Compact accordingly
went into effect under 25 U.S.C. § 2710(d)(8)(C). The
Compact was published in the Federal Register on August 11,
8
2021, making it effective. Indian Gaming; Approval by
Operation of Law of Tribal-State Class III Gaming Compact in
the State of Florida, 86 Fed. Reg. 44,037-01 (Aug. 11, 2021).
C.
The Plaintiffs in this case, West Flagler Associates, Ltd.,
d/b/a Magic City Casino, and Bonita-Fort Myers Corporation,
d/b/a Bonita Springs Poker Room (collectively, “West
Flagler”), operate brick-and-mortar casinos in Florida. They
sued Secretary Haaland, in her official capacity, and the
Department of the Interior (collectively, “the Secretary”),
challenging the decision to not act on the Compact within 45
days. They allege that the Secretary’s approval through
inaction violated the APA for four reasons: (1) its
authorization of gaming off of Indian lands was unlawful under
IGRA, (2) it violated the Wire Act, (3) it violated the Unlawful
Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (“UIGEA”), and (4) it
violated the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee.
The Plaintiffs sought an injunction vacating and setting aside
the Compact.
In the District Court, the Tribe moved to intervene for the
limited purpose of filing a Rule 19 motion to dismiss. The
Secretary and Plaintiffs opposed the Tribe’s motion.
Independently, the Secretary moved to dismiss for lack of
standing and for failure to state a claim. The Plaintiffs moved
for summary judgment.
The District Court considered all three motions together,
along with parallel motions in another case involving a
challenge to the same Compact by individuals and entities who
are wholly opposed to the expansion of gambling within
Florida. See Monterra MF, LLC v. Haaland, No. 21-cv-2513
(D.D.C.) (complaint filed Sept. 27, 2021). The District Court
first denied the Tribe’s motion to intervene, finding that it was
9
a required party but that its interests in this litigation were
adequately represented by the Secretary, and therefore the
litigation could proceed in the Tribe’s absence in equity and
good conscience. See FED. R. CIV. P. 19(b). The District Court
then granted summary judgment for the West Flagler Plaintiffs,
finding that the Compact violated IGRA because its online
sports betting provisions impermissibly attempted to authorize
gaming off of Indian lands; accordingly, the Secretary had an
affirmative duty to reject it. Finding that the entire Compact
must be set aside, the District Court finally dismissed the
motions in the Monterra litigation as moot, and that portion of
the decision is not on appeal. (The Monterra plaintiffs have
appeared as amici in this case and urge affirmance.)
The Tribe appealed the denial of its motion to intervene,
which the Secretary and Plaintiffs oppose. The Secretary
appealed the grant of summary judgment for Plaintiffs.
II.
We first address the merits of West Flagler’s challenge to
the Compact, followed by the Tribe’s motion to intervene. We
review a district court’s decision granting summary judgment
de novo. Lopez v. Council on American-Islamic Rels. Action
Network, Inc., 826 F.3d 492, 496 (D.C. Cir. 2016). No material
fact is in dispute; the issues on appeal are purely legal.
West Flagler’s claims arise under the APA. The APA
requires a reviewing court to “hold unlawful and set aside
agency action . . . found to be[] (A) arbitrary, capricious, an
abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law;
[or] (B) contrary to constitutional right, power, privilege, or
immunity.” 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A)–(B). When reviewing a
Secretary’s decision to not act within the 45-day window when
presented with an IGRA compact, this Court has held that 25
U.S.C. § 2710(d)(8)(C) “provides the ‘law to apply[]’”—that
10
is, “the compact is deemed approved ‘but only to the extent the
compact is consistent with the provisions of [IGRA].’”
Amador Cnty., 640 F.3d at 381 (alteration in original).
A.
West Flagler’s primary challenge to the Compact is that its
online sports betting provisions unlawfully authorize class III
gaming outside of Indian lands, in violation of IGRA. In West
Flagler’s view, our decision in Amador County stands for the
principle that “IGRA requires the Secretary to ‘affirmatively
disapprove’ any compact that seeks to authorize gaming off
Indian lands.” West Flagler Br. 20. They argue in turn that the
Compact, both in text and effect, necessarily violates that
principle. On appeal, the Secretary agrees with the major
premise of West Flagler’s claim—that IGRA cannot provide
an independent source of legal authority for gaming outside of
Indian lands—but with one caveat. In her view, “[g]aming
outside Indian lands cannot be authorized by IGRA, but it may
be addressed in a compact.” Gov’t Resp. Br. 2. Thus, the
Secretary mainly disputes the minor premise of West Flagler’s
argument by contending that while the Compact here
“discussed” online sports betting off of tribal lands, it did not
“authorize” it. And whether or not that gaming is authorized
or permissible as a matter of Florida state law falls outside the
scope of the Secretary’s review. Thus, the logic goes, she had
no obligation to disapprove the Compact.
We agree with the Secretary. For our purposes, IGRA’s
complex regulatory scheme contains two important, related
principles. First, IGRA abrogated tribal sovereign immunity
for certain gaming activity on Indian lands, and it regulates
gaming activity on Indian lands, but “nowhere else.” Bay
Mills, 572 U.S. at 795. This is the core teaching of Bay Mills,
in which the Supreme Court stated in no uncertain terms:
11
“Everything—literally everything—in IGRA affords tools (for
either state or federal officials) to regulate gaming on Indian
lands, and nowhere else.” Id. Put another way, IGRA
generally does not restrict or regulate tribal, or any other,
activity outside of Indian lands.
Second, while the function of a class III gaming compact
is to authorize gaming on Indian lands, it “may include
provisions relating to” a litany of other topics. 25 U.S.C.
§ 2710(d)(3)(C). These include, among other things, “the
application of the criminal and civil laws and regulations of the
Indian tribe or the State that are directly related to, and
necessary for, the licensing and regulation of such activity;”
“the allocation of criminal and civil jurisdiction between the
State and the Indian tribe necessary for the enforcement of such
laws and regulations;” and “any other subjects that are directly
related to the operation of gaming activities.” Id.§ 2710(d)(3)(C)(i), (ii), (vii). Bay Mills also teaches that such
topics can cover state or tribal activity outside of Indian lands.
For instance, a state may use a gaming compact to bargain for
a waiver of tribal sovereign immunity for a tribe’s gaming
activity outside of its lands. See 572 U.S. at 796–97. And while
there are some limits on what a tribe and a state can agree to in
an IGRA gaming compact, the purpose of those limits is
generally to ensure that states do not use gaming compacts as a
backdoor to exercise regulatory power over tribes that they
otherwise would not have. That is not a concern in this case.
Following the precept that “a contractual provision should,
if possible, be interpreted in such a fashion as to render it lawful
rather than unlawful,” we find the Compact’s text capable of
an interpretation in harmony with these two principles. Papago
Tribal Util. Auth. v. FERC, 723 F.2d 950, 954 (D.C. Cir. 1983);
see also Cole v. Burns Int’l Sec. Servs., 105 F.3d 1465, 1485
(D.C. Cir. 1997) (“[A]n interpretation that makes the contract
12
lawful is preferred to one that renders it unlawful.”); 11
WILLISTON ON CONTRACTS § 32:11 (4th ed. May 2023 update)
(“Consonant with the principle that all parts of a contract be
given effect when possible, an interpretation which renders a
contract lawful is preferred over one which renders it
unlawful.”). Recall that the key language over which the
parties quarrel is in Compact § IV.A, titled “Authorization and
Location of Covered Games.” It reads:
The Tribe and State agree that the Tribe is
authorized to operate Covered Games on its
Indian lands, as defined in [IGRA.] . . . Subject
to limitations set forth herein, wagers on Sports
Betting . . . made by players physically located
within the State using a mobile or other
electronic device shall be deemed to take place
exclusively where received at the location of the
servers or other devices used to conduct such
wagering activity at a Facility on Indian Lands.
J.A. 692; see also J.A. 687 (Compact § III.CC.2, containing the
same phrasing).
The first sentence of this section simply states that the
Tribe is authorized to operate sports betting on its lands. This
is uncontroversial and plainly consistent with IGRA. Next, the
Compact discusses wagers on sports betting “made by players
physically located within the State using a mobile or other
electronic device,” which are “deemed to take place
exclusively where received.” The Compact does not say that
these wagers are “authorized” by the Compact (or by any other
legal authority). Rather, it simply indicates that the parties to
the Compact (i.e., the Tribe and Florida) have agreed that they
both consider such activity (i.e., placing those wagers) to occur
on tribal lands. Because the Compact requires all gaming
13
disputes be resolved in accordance with tribal law, see J.A. 702
(Compact § VI.A), this “deeming” provision simply allocates
jurisdiction between Florida and the Tribe, as permitted by 25
U.S.C. § 2710(d)(3)(C)(i)–(ii).
The discussion of wagers placed from outside Indian lands
is also “directly related to the operation of” the Tribe’s sports
book, and thus falls within the scope of § 2710(d)(3)(C)(vii).
The Compact “authorizes” only the Tribe’s activity on its own
lands, that is, operating the sports book and receiving wagers.
The lawfulness of any other related activity such as the placing
of wagers from outside Indian lands, under state law or tribal
law, is unaffected by its inclusion as a topic in the Compact.
West Flagler contends that reading subsection
(d)(3)(C)(vii)—the “catch-all” provision—in this way violates
the canon that Congress does not hide elephants in mouseholes.
We disagree. To be sure, as one of our sister circuits recently
noted: “As a residual clause, § 2710(d)(3)(C)(vii) takes its
meaning from, and is limited by, the rest of § 2710(d)(3)(C).”
Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians v. California, 42
F.4th 1024, 1036 (9th Cir. 2022) (citing Yates v. United States,
574 U.S. 528, 545 (2015)). But at the same time, “as a residual
clause, § 2710(d)(3)(C)(vii) is inevitably broader than the more
specific topics enumerated in the paragraphs that precede it.”
Chicken Ranch, 42 F.4th at 1036 (internal quotations and
alteration omitted); see also Republic of Iraq v. Beaty, 556 U.S.
848, 860 (2009) (“[T]he whole value of a generally phrased
residual clause . . . is that it serves as a catchall for matters not
specifically contemplated—known unknowns[.]”). Indeed,
§ 2710(d)(3)(C) covers vast ground, including not only the
allocation of civil and criminal jurisdiction between a state and
a tribe (no small topic), but also state taxation, remedies for
breach of contract, and licensing standards. The power of a
state to tax Indian tribes for activity on its own lands, or a
14
tribe’s decision to waive its sovereign immunity from suit by a
state, see Bay Mills, 572 U.S. at 796, are far from
“mouseholes.” If they are not mouseholes, subsection
(d)(3)(C)(vii)—which, as a residual clause, is “inevitably
broader”—cannot constitute a mousehole. Thus, gaming
activity outside of Indian lands that is directly related to the
gaming activity authorized by a compact may appropriately fall
within the scope of subsection (d)(3)(C)(vii).
Cases from other circuits interpreting the catch-all
provision confirm our understanding. In Chicken Ranch, the
Ninth Circuit held that provisions relating to family law,
environmental law, and tort law—on which California insisted
in exchange for permitting the tribe to conduct gaming—could
not be the subject of a valid IGRA compact, as they were not
directly related to gaming. 42 F.4th at 1037–39. Similarly, the
Tenth Circuit has held that subsection (d)(3)(C)(vii) does not
permit a compact provision allowing state courts to hear tort
suits arising from injuries at Indian casinos. Navajo Nation v.
Dalley, 896 F.3d 1196, 1218 (10th Cir. 2018). The lesson from
these cases is clear and is confirmed by IGRA’s legislative
history: states cannot use compacts “as a subterfuge for
imposing State jurisdiction on tribal lands[,]” contra IGRA’s
purpose. S. Rep. No. 100-466, at 14 (1988). But that is not
what happened here.
Nor does Amador County, on which West Flagler heavily
relies, compel a different result. There, we emphasized that 25
U.S.C. § 2710(d)(8)(A) “authorizes approval only of compacts
‘governing gaming on Indian lands,’ suggesting that
disapproval is obligatory where that particular requirement is
unsatisfied.” 640 F.3d at 381. But in that case, the entirety of
the gaming activity discussed in the compact was located on a
piece of land known as “the Rancheria,” and the dispositive
issue was whether the Rancheria constituted Indian lands or
15
not. In other words, if the Rancheria did not qualify as Indian
lands, no provision of the compact would seek to authorize
gaming on Indian lands, and thus any approval would plainly
exceed the scope of the Secretary’s authority under subsection
(d)(8)(A). In contrast, the Compact here authorizes a
substantial amount of gaming on Indian lands separate and
apart from online wagers placed from outside the Tribe’s lands,
including Las Vegas-style gambling and in-person sports
betting at the Tribe’s casinos. That is sufficient to fulfill the
“particular requirement” that the Compact “govern[s] gaming
on Indian lands.” Id. At bottom, West Flagler’s argument
invites the Court to read the extraneous word “only” into the
preceding statutory language, and we decline to do so.
Finally, West Flagler protests that the Secretary’s
argument necessarily creates two types of IGRA approvals: (a)
for activity on Indian lands, approval authorizes the activity,
while (b) for activity outside of Indian lands, approval has no
meaning or legal effect. In West Flagler’s view, this is
problematic because an approved IGRA compact is an
“instrument of federal law” which “preempts state law[,]” but
it would be illogical and unworkable for only some parts of an
approved compact to preempt state law. West Flagler Br. 24–
25. However, this argument misunderstands the purpose and
effect of an IGRA approval.
To start, neither of the two out-of-circuit cases that West
Flagler cites stand for the novel proposition that an IGRA
compact has the force of federal law with preemptive power.
One of those cases merely states that IGRA compacts are a
“creation of federal law,” which is uncontroversial and
indisputable given their statutory origin but falls far short of
supporting West Flagler’s argument. See Citizen Potawatomi
Nation v. Oklahoma, 881 F.3d 1226, 1239 (10th Cir. 2018).
The other cited case simply states that an IGRA compact
16
confers upon a tribe a “federal right” to conduct gaming on its
own lands, for the purposes of establishing federal court
jurisdiction over the action—again, indisputable and beside the
point. See Forest Cnty. Potawatomi Cmty. v. Norquist, 45 F.3d
1079, 1082 (7th Cir. 1995).
In actuality, the approval process exists so that the
Secretary may ensure that a compact does not violate certain
federal laws, and her approval is a prerequisite for the compact
to have legal effect: nothing more, nothing less. Much
discussion in the briefs concerns the issue of whether the Tribe
and Florida sought to circumvent state constitutional law by
including the online sports betting provisions in the Compact.
By way of background, in 2018, Florida amended its
constitution with a section titled “Voter Control of Gambling
in Florida.” Fla. Const. art. X, § 30. Under that amendment,
“Florida voters shall have the exclusive right to decide whether
to authorize casino gambling in the State of Florida[,]” which
can only be done through “a vote by citizens’ initiative.” Id.
§ 30(a). At the same time, the amendment contains an
exception for “casino gambling on tribal lands” pursuant to an
IGRA compact. Id. § 30(c). No voter referendum was ever
held regarding online sports betting; therefore, West Flagler
argues, the Tribe and Florida would have to believe that the
IGRA Compact provides the legal basis for that activity.
Whatever the Tribe and Florida—who are not parties to
this litigation—may believe, let us be clear: an IGRA compact
cannot provide independent legal authority for gaming activity
that occurs outside of Indian lands, where that activity would
otherwise violate state law. That is in fact the position
advanced by the Secretary—who is a party to this litigation—
and we agree. See Oral Arg. Tr. at 6:14–21 (Counsel for the
Secretary: “[I]f the state statute . . . related to this action were
to be challenged in Florida state court and were to fall, the
17
compact that they crafted would give no independent authority
for the Tribe to continue to receive bets from outside Indian
lands.”).
Thus, we hold only that the Secretary’s decision not to act
on the Compact was consistent with IGRA. In reaching this
narrow conclusion, we do not give our imprimatur to all of the
activity discussed in the Compact. And particularly, for
avoidance of doubt, we express no opinion as to whether the
Florida statute ratifying the Compact is constitutional under
Fla. Const. art. X, § 30. That question and any other related
questions of state law are outside the scope of the Secretary’s
review of the Compact, are outside the scope of our judicial
review, and as a prudential matter are best left for Florida’s
courts to decide.
B.
The District Court did not reach West Flagler’s Wire Act,
UIGEA, and Fifth Amendment challenges to the Compact. But
because they have been “fully briefed” and present “purely
legal questions[,]” we may decide them. Assoc. of Am. R.R.s v.
U.S. Dep’t of Transp., 821 F.3d 19, 26 (D.C. Cir. 2016); see
also Consumer Energy Council v. FERC, 673 F.2d 425, 440
(D.C. Cir. 1982). We conclude that these other challenges lack
merit as matter of law.
First, we address the justiciability of these claims. IGRA
enumerates a limited number of grounds for which a Secretary
“may disapprove a compact[,]” including where the compact
violates federal law. 25 U.S.C. § 2710(d)(8)(B)(ii). But where,
as here, a compact goes into effect due to the Secretary’s
inaction, IGRA states that the compact is “approved . . . but
only to the extent the compact is consistent with the provisions
of this chapter.” Id. § 2710(d)(8)(C). Because subsection (B)
uses “may” rather than “shall,” while subsection (C) lists
18
inconsistency with IGRA as the only ground for nullifying a
compact considered approved following secretarial inaction,
there is a threshold question whether non-IGRA challenges to
a compact in these circumstances are judicially reviewable.
Dicta from our opinion in Amador County strongly suggests
that they are, but we have not definitively resolved the
question, because the claim in that case was that the compact
violated IGRA, not a different federal law. 640 F.3d at 380–
83. But we need not resolve that thorny question here, because
even assuming that such claims are justiciable, we find that
West Flagler’s particular challenges fail as a matter of law.
1.
First, West Flagler claims that the Compact authorizes
transactions that would violate the federal Wire Act. The Wire
Act prohibits anyone “engaged in the business of betting or
wagering” from “knowingly us[ing] a wire communication
facility for the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce
of bets or wagers . . . on any sporting event or contest[.]” 18
U.S.C. § 1084(a). The Act has a safe harbor provision for bets
placed to and from states or foreign countries where sports
betting is lawful. Id. § 1084(b). Violating the Wire Act is a
crime punishable by fine or imprisonment. Id. § 1084(a).
West Flagler contends that “[o]nline communications are
almost invariably routed between servers in and out of state
between their origin and destination[,]” and therefore any
“realistic implementation of the Compact would require use of
wire facilities operating in ‘interstate and foreign commerce.’”
West Flagler Br. 36. They further argue that the safe harbor
provision does not apply, because Indian lands are neither a
state nor a foreign country within the meaning of § 1084(b).
Id. at 36 n.17.
19
There are several problems with this line of reasoning. As
discussed above, the Compact does not itself independently
“authorize” wagers placed by patrons located outside Indian
lands. That itself forecloses the Wire Act challenge (and the
other claims that follow). And even if the Compact did, no
matter the scope of our judicial review, IGRA does not require
the Secretary to disapprove a compact based on hypothetical
violations of federal criminal law that turn on how the Compact
is implemented as well as the mens rea of the would-be bettors.
In fact, the Compact contains express language that the
Tribe “shall ensure” that its sports book operates in “strict
compliance” with the Wire Act. J.A. 707 (Compact
§ VII.A.1(c)). West Flagler does not contest that it would be
technically possible for the Tribe to do so. Moreover, the Wire
Act is a criminal statute requiring the government to prove
mens rea in individual circumstances, a principle at odds with
the argument that the Compact as a general matter violates the
Act, or that the Secretary was required to disapprove it on that
basis. Finally, taking West Flagler’s argument to its logical
end shows why such a challenge cannot be sustained. Under
their view, even online betting by patrons who are physically
located on Indian lands would violate the Wire Act, because
some of those bets may be routed off of Indian lands into a
state, and then back. There is no support for the novel and
sweeping argument that the Wire Act poses such a broad
obstacle to an Indian tribe’s ability to offer online gambling on
its own lands.
2.
In a related vein, West Flagler claims that the Compact
violates the UIGEA. That Act prohibits “knowingly
accept[ing]” certain forms of payment in connection with
“unlawful Internet gambling” such as credit card transactions,
20
checks, and electronic fund transfers. 31 U.S.C. § 5363. This
claim suffers from a similar flaw as the Wire Act claim. Even
without defining the precise contours of the scope of our review
in this case, our review is of the Secretary’s decision not to act
when presented with the Compact, not whether all hypothetical
implementations of the Compact are lawful under all federal
statutes. How the Tribe and Florida ultimately implement the
Compact in practice, and whether that implementation is
consistent with UIGEA, may be the subject of a future lawsuit,
but the Compact does not as a facial matter violate the UIGEA.
The Secretary was therefore not required to disapprove the
Compact on that basis.
3.
Lastly, West Flagler argues that the Secretary’s approval
violates the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee
because the Compact impermissibly grants the Tribe a
statewide monopoly over online sports betting. But even if the
Secretary’s approval “authorized” all of the activity in the
Compact (as we have explained supra, it does not), it would
survive rational basis review, which is the applicable level of
scrutiny here.
We have held that “promoting the economic development
of federally recognized Indian tribes (and thus their
members),” if “rationally related to a legitimate legislative
purpose[,]” is constitutional. Am. Fed’n of Gov’t Emps., AFL-
CIO v. United States, 330 F.3d 513, 522–23 (D.C. Cir. 2003);
see Morton v. Mancari, 417 U.S. 535, 554 (1974) (upholding a
preference for members of Indian tribes where “reasonably and
directly related to a legitimate, nonracially based goal”). The
exclusivity provisions in the Compact plainly promote the
economic development of the Seminole Tribe. They are also
rationally related to the legitimate legislative purposes laid out
21
in IGRA by “ensur[ing] that the Indian tribe is the primary
beneficiary of the gaming operation[.]” 25 U.S.C. § 2702(2).
Thus, West Flagler’s equal protection challenge fails as a
matter of law.
III.
Having determined that West Flagler’s challenges to the
Compact lack merit and judgment for the Secretary is
warranted, we are left to decide the Tribe’s motion to intervene.
The Tribe moved to intervene as of right under Rule 24(a), for
the limited purpose of filing a motion to dismiss under Rule 19.
In short, a party seeking dismissal under Rule 19 must show
that it is a required party that cannot be joined, and without
whom the litigation cannot proceed.
Formally, “Rule 19 analysis has two steps.” De Csepel v.
Republic of Hungary, 27 F.4th 736, 746 (D.C. Cir. 2022). “We
first determine whether an absent party is ‘required’” under
Rule 19(a). Id. Relevant here, a party is required where it
“claims an interest relating to the subject of the action and . . .
disposing of the action in the person’s absence may . . . as a
practical matter impair or impede the person’s ability to protect
the interest[.]” FED. R. CIV. P. 19(a)(1)(B)(i) (emphasis
added). If a party is required but cannot be joined (for instance,
due to its sovereign immunity), the court must next determine
“whether, in equity and good conscience, the action should
proceed among the existing parties or should be dismissed.”
FED. R. CIV. P. 19(b). Courts refer to step two of this analysis
as determining whether the party is “indispensable.” De
Csepel, 27 F.4th at 748. In doing so, a court considers four
factors: (1) whether “a judgment rendered in the person’s
absence might prejudice that person or the existing parties[,]”
(2) whether such prejudice can be “lessened or avoided[,]” (3)
“whether a judgment rendered in the person’s absence would
22
be adequate[,]” and (4) “whether the plaintiff would have an
adequate remedy if the action were dismissed for nonjoinder.”
FED. R. CIV. P. 19(b). The Rule 19 inquiry is equitable and
discretionary. See Kickapoo Tribe of Indians v. Babbitt, 43
F.3d 1491, 1495 (D.C. Cir. 1995); De Csepel, 27 F.4th at 747.
The District Court first concluded that the Tribe’s
proposed Rule 19 motion to dismiss lacked merit. It then
denied the Rule 24 motion to intervene as moot. Because the
Tribe will suffer minimal to no prejudice in light of this Court’s
ruling on the merits, we affirm the denial of the motion to
intervene on alternate grounds.
Ordinarily, a court decides a prospective party’s motion to
intervene before summary judgment. The District Court’s
analysis proceeded in that sequence, though it decided both
motions in the same order, and both are presented in this
appeal. Our decision to resolve the merits of the case before
deciding the Tribe’s motion to intervene in this instance heeds
the well-settled principle that Rule 19 “calls for a pragmatic
decision based on practical considerations in the context of
particular litigation.” Kickapoo Tribe, 43 F.3d at 1495; cf.
Ruhrgas AG v. Marathon Oil Co., 526 U.S. 574, 577–78 (1999)
(a court may resolve a case by concluding that it lacks personal
jurisdiction before confirming its subject-matter jurisdiction
where the former presents an easier question, even though the
latter delineates more foundational limits on a federal court’s
Article III power to decide a case). As the Advisory Committee
Notes to the Federal Rules state, the Rule 19 inquiry is meant,
above all, to be “practical,” and courts should ask: “Would the
absentee be adversely affected in a practical sense, and if so,
would the prejudice be immediate and serious, or remote and
minor?” FED. R. CIV. P. 19 advisory committee’s note to 1966
amendment; see also 7 CHARLES A. WRIGHT & ARTHUR R.
MILLER, FED. PRAC. & PROC. CIV. § 1608 (3d ed. Apr. 2023
23
update) (“[C]ourts must look to the practical likelihood of
prejudice . . . rather than the theoretical possibility that [it] may
occur.”). This principle underlies the rule itself and is the
reason a case may proceed when a non-party’s interests are
adequately represented by a party.
Here, there is little practical difference between a Rule 19
dismissal on the one hand, and a judgment for the Secretary on
the other. Both would keep intact the 2021 Compact, the relief
that the Tribe ultimately seeks. In fact, the Tribe did not shy
away from expressing its views on the merits of this case; it
filed an amicus brief explaining the reasons it believes the
District Court erred in vacating the Compact, separate and apart
from the denial of its motion to intervene. While the ability to
file an amicus brief is never per se “enough to eliminate
prejudice,” Wichita & Affiliated Tribes v. Hodel, 788 F.2d 765,
775 (D.C. Cir. 1986), the Tribe’s brief lessens whatever
prejudice it would suffer from having this issue resolved
favorably in its absence. In reaching this conclusion, we do not
discount or take lightly the Tribe’s “substantial interest” in its
sovereign immunity, see Republic of Philippines v. Pimentel,
553 U.S. 851, 868–69 (2008), but we ultimately find that any
infringement on that immunity is “remote” and “theoretical” in
these unique circumstances. Because Rule 19’s guiding
“philosophy . . . is to avoid dismissal whenever possible[,]” we
find that the practical benefits of deciding this case on the
merits outweighs any prejudice to the Tribe. 7 CHARLES A.
WRIGHT & ARTHUR R. MILLER, FED. PRAC. & PROC. CIV.
§ 1604 (3d ed. Apr. 2023 update).
* * *
For these reasons, we vacate the opinion below, and the
District Court is directed to enter judgment for the Secretary.
We affirm the denial of the Tribe’s motion to intervene.
24
It is so ordered.