At & T Corporation v. Coeur D'Alene Tribe

283 F.3d 1156 AT & T CORPORATION, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. COEUR D'ALENE TRIBE, Defendant-Appellant. No. 99-35088. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted March 7, 2000. Filed March 19, 2002. COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED Raymond Givens, Coeur d'Alene, ID, for the defendant-appellant. Howard Spierer, Basking Ridge, NJ, for the plaintiff-appellee. Alan I. Gilbert, St. Paul, MN (States), and Corbin Weiss, Washington, DC (USA), for the amici curiae. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Idaho; Edward J. Lodge, Chief Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-97-00392-EJL. Before: BROWNING, B. FLETCHER and GOULD, Circuit Judges. Opinion by BETTY B. FLETCHER; Partial Concurrences and Partial Dissent by Judge RONALD M. GOULD. BETTY B. FLETCHER, Circuit Judge. 1 Having received conflicting determinations from tribal courts and the federal district court, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe appeals the district court's determination that AT & T Corporation need not provide toll-free telephone service for the Tribe's lottery. We find that the tribal court lacked jurisdiction to resolve the dispute, but vacate the district court's…

Opinion by BETTY B. FLETCHER; Partial Concurrences and Partial Dissent by Judge RONALD M. GOULD.

Having received conflicting determinations from tribal courts and the federal district court, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe appeals the district court’s determination that AT & T Corporation need not provide toll-free telephone service for the Tribe’s lottery. We find that the tribal court lacked jurisdiction to resolve the dispute, but vacate the district court’s determination that the lottery itself is illegal under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). We conclude that AT & T was not the proper party to challenge the legality of the lottery.

I. BACKGROUND

The federally recognized Coeur d’Alene Tribe (“Tribe”) resides on the Coeur d’Al-ene Reservation in Idaho. Federal law permits tribes like the Coeur d’Alene to engage in gambling activities on Indian lands pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), 25 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq. As IGRA requires of any tribe wishing to engage in gambling on its land, the Tribe entered into a compact with the State of Idaho. The compact permits the Tribe to offer Class III gaming, including a lottery. See 25 U.S.C. § 2710 (d)(3). The Secretary…

concurring in part and dissenting in part.

Although I concur in Part II of the majority opinion holding that the tribal court did not have subject matter jurisdiction over AT & T, I must respectfully dissent from Part III and the judgment. I would hold that the National Indian Gaming Commission (“NIGC”) did not issue a final decision that the National Indian Lottery (“NIL”) complies with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (“IGRA”) and, therefore, that the district court could examine that issue in the first instance. Accordingly, I would reach the merits of the legality of the NIL and would conclude, as did the district court, that the NIL is clearly illegal under the IGRA because it involves tribe-sponsored gambling that does not occur on Indian lands. AT & T did not act improperly in refusing to provide toll-free service to the Coeur d’Alene Tribe of Idaho (“Tribe”).

I see no principled basis for the majority to reverse the district court’s well-reasoned decision. The majority’s inexplicable decision to resolve this case solely on incorrect procedural grounds has the effect, if not the purpose, of avoiding the obvious conclusion that the NIL is illegal under the IGRA. The…