Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Tiguas, formally known as the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, agreed to dismiss a pending court case that the U.S. Supreme Court in June returned to a lower Texas court for further litigation.
That came after the Supreme Court ruled the Tiguas can legally conduct electronic bingo games at its Speaking Rock casino. Lawyers for the state of Texas had argued the games were illegal. An agreement to dismiss the case was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in El Paso.
Federal Judge Kathleen Cardone on Sept. 6 ordered lawyers for the Tiguas and the state of Texas to meet and determine if any issues remained to be resolved or whether the case should be dismissed.
Tuesday, lawyers for both sides filed a status report stating that after meeting four times in September, they determined “the United States Supreme Court ruling resolved all claims in the case and there is no need for further (court) proceedings.”
The lawyers on the same day filed the agreement to dismiss the case.
“The Tribe will continue to offer entertainment, concerts, and gaming at Speaking Rock, and is excited to expand its services to better serve the Tribe's members and West Texas.”
“The Tribe is proud to have reached an agreement with the State of Texas to end the decades-long dispute over the Tribe’s gaming activities,” tribal officials said in a written statement issued by Brant Martin, the Fort Worth lawyer representing the tribe in the case.
“We are grateful that the Supreme Court has affirmed the Tribe’s sovereignty under the (federal) Restoration Act, and the Tribe will continue to support its members and its community with confidence, secure in the knowledge earned by this legal outcome,” the statement reads.
