By Christina Silva | The Associated Press
Opponents of a proposed Las Vegas-style casino near Phoenix said Monday that a federal judge overlooked important evidence when ruling that the Tohono O’odham Nation’s construction plan doesn’t violate state gambling laws.
The legal team representing Arizona, the Gila River Indian Community and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community said in a motion for partial reconsideration filed Monday that tribal leaders had once made public statements saying that state law did prohibit new casinos in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
“We think those disputed facts require a trial,” said Mary O’Grady, an attorney representing the Salt River tribe.
U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell said in a ruling last week that the Tohono O’odham Nation’s plan to build a casino on the edge of Glendale was legal because the state’s gambling compact approved by voters in 2002 did not contain language prohibiting new casino construction. Opponents insist the casino ban was implicit and part of the reason why voters approved the compact.
“No reasonable reading of the compact could lead a person to conclude that it prohibited new casinos in the Phoenix area,” Campbell ruled. He also called for further evidence from both sides on the intent of the voter-approved compact by May 22.
The plaintiffs filed the suit in 2011 to stop the casino, saying it violates zoning and state laws and would disrupt residential neighborhoods near downtown Phoenix.
(Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Arizona Senate and House leaders in their opposition to the casino.)
