Opinion: Tribal and state governments should get out of casinos

The current case will most likely be appealed to the federal Circuit Court, where a win for the pueblo would result in a compact that gave the state zero revenue sharing, allow 18-year-olds to gamble on slots and at the tables, allow liquor to be served on the gambling floor and allow the casino to cash paychecks and public assistance checks – all illegal in previous tribal compacts.

A win for Pojoaque would also mean that, according to New Mexico tribal gambling compact law, all other gambling tribes in the state could adopt the same tribal gambling compacts, cutting off over $50 million a year in revenue sharing to the state.

The other tribes could also obtain the other antisocial changes in compact law that Pojoaque acquired in the lawsuit.

It is not hard to imagine that nearly all tribes across the U.S. would immediately link up with Interior to sue their respective states to obtain similar compacts, if not immediately, at least when their compacts were due to renew.

It’s hard to imagine that a rational federal court would allow the passage of compacts that wantonly violate the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, as well as the intent of the Congress that passed that law.