Justia California Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeal concluding that the Governor acted lawfully when he concurred in the determination of the United States Secretary of the Interior (Interior Secretary) to allow casino-style gaming on tribal trust land in California, holding that California law empowers the Governor to concur.Under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq., the Interior Secretary may permit gaming on certain land taken into federal trust for an Indian tribe so long as the Governor of the state where the land is located concurs. At issue was whether the California Governor has the authority to concur in the Interior Secretary's determination to allow gaming on tribal trust land in California where the California Constitution has not granted explicit authority to concur in the cooperative-federalism scheme. The Supreme Court held that because the California Constitution, as amended in 2000, permits casino-style gaming under certain conditions on Indian and tribal lands and the Legislature imposed no restriction to the Governor's concurrence power, the Governor acted lawfully in concurring in the Interior Secretary's determination. View "United Auburn Indian Community of Auburn Rancheria v. Newsom" on Justia Law

At issue in this case were devices that resemble traditional casino-style slot machines in certain respects and offer users the chance to win sweepstakes prizes. The five Defendants in this ran businesses using devices that employed modern technology to run sweepstakes computer games. The Kern County District Attorney’s Office filed separate civil actions against each of the Defendants, alleging that Defendants had violated antigambling provisions of the Penal Code in operating their businesses and seeking injunctive and other relief. The superior court granted preliminary injunctions prohibiting each defendant from operating any business that includes any type of “sweepstakes,” “slot machines,” or “lottery” feature. The Court of Appeal affirmed, concluding that the sweepstakes operations were illegal slot machines. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Defendants’ devices were unlawful slot machines under Cal. Penal Code 330b. View "People ex rel. Green v. Grewal" on Justia Law