West Flagler petitions Florida Supreme Court as sports betting row hits governor’s office
Parimutuel joined by Bonita-Fort Myers in targeting Governor Ron DeSantis and Senate president Kathleen Passidomo in seeking invalidation of controversial online tribal gaming compact
Representatives of West Flagler Associates and the Bonita Fort-Myers Corporation have filed a petition with the Florida Supreme Court asking for the court to invalidate the controversial 30-year tribal gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida to offer online sports betting.
Known as a writ quo warranto, the petition names Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida Senate president Kathleen Passidomo as respondents.
The petition infers that DeSantis and Passidomo, acting in their respective roles, exceeded their authority in approving the 30-year tribal gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe, first signed into law by DeSantis in May 2021.
The parimutuel operators argue that the respondents therefore violated the Florida constitution in not putting the compact to a statewide voter-approved constitutional amendment.
“This abuse of authority warrants this court’s review and correction,” the petitioners wrote.
“Under an analogous situation that expanded gambling, in Fla. House of Representatives v. Crist, 999 So. 2d 601 (Fla. 2008), this court reaffirmed the blackletter rule that no branch of government can change public policy absent the constitutional power to do so.”
Under the state-approved compact, any sportsbook transactions would go through servers located on tribal land in a so-called “hub and spoke” model, something which bypasses both federal and state law, which both deem sports betting in Florida illegal.
In approving this compact, the parimutuels argue that the state has established a “transparent artifice” to satisfy the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act’s contention that all gambling take place on tribal lands.
“This artifice to avoid Section 30’s requirement of a citizens’ initiative is contrary to established law, the undisputed facts, and common sense,” the petition continues.
“Indeed, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, in considering a challenge to the 2021 Compact under the Administrative Procedures Act recently determined this ‘deeming’ provision cannot convert the off-reservation sports betting provisions into gaming pursuant to IGRA ‘on Indian lands’, nor can IGRA provide authority for the Tribe to conduct gaming off Indian lands,” it adds.
In respect of redress, petitioners have asked for Supreme Court confirmation that both DeSantis and Passidomo exceeded their respective authority in approving the compact.
The petition asks for the court to invalidate the compact, mandating for a voter-approved constitutional amendment and signature gathering process to determine if the Seminole Tribe should be allowed to offer online sports betting in the state.
As such, the petition asks for the court to exercise constitutional powers and enter an order “temporarily suspending” the sports betting provisions of the implementing law and maintaining the status quo for an indefinite period.
The petition comes just days after the US Department of the Interior spoke out in opposition to an attempt by West Flagler to force a stay of a July 2023 decision by the DC Court of Appeals allowing the Seminole Tribe to resume operating a sportsbook in the Sunshine State.
West Flagler is also understood to be considering a writ of certiorari to the US Supreme Court for a formal review of the case, an action which is currently ongoing.