A screenshot of the Desert Rose Bingo website.
The Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel said it would fight to keep its online gaming site open after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order at the request of the state of California. The tribe launched Desert Rose Bingo last month, offering bingo-type games to patrons based in the state. Bingo is considered a Class II game and is not subject to state jurisdiction. The state, however, argued that the operation violated the Class III gaming compact. Judge Anthony J. Battaglia agreed and said he was "convinced" that the activity on the site falls into the Class III category. "The court is fully aware that the games permitted for tribal gaming are not limited to 'church-hall paper and dauber bingo games,'" Battaglia wrote in a decision on Friday. "But the game presented here pushes well beyond a technological aid and instead the court is convinced that the gaming here is an electronic facsimile and Class III gaming for purposes of the compact." The restraining order is only temporary but it could to a permanent injunction that prevents the tribe from restarting the site. A tribal spokesperson called Battaglia's ruling "dangerous" for Indian Country. "This decision poses a significant threat to tribal jurisdiction over Class II gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act," Cruz Bustamante, a former lieutenant governor of the state, said in a press release. "It declares one-touch bingo and proxy play of games to be illegal and turns a blind eye to federal laws and precedent permitting technological advancements to aid in the play of Class II bingo. These are very dangerous and significant pronouncements for Indian Country." Separately, the tribe faces a lawsuit from the federal government. The The U.S. Attorney's Office in Southern California argues that the site violates the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which outlaws Internet gaming unless it is conducted pursuant to a Class III gaming compact or under state law. Turtle Talk has posted documents from the state's case, California v. Iipay Nation Of Santa Ysabel. Get the Story:
Santa Ysabel tribe's online bingo busted (The San Diego Union-Tribune 12/16) Related Stories:
Federal government sues Santa Ysabel Band over bingo website (12/05)
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