Ysleta del Sur Pueblo v. Texas
Issues
Did the Fifth Circuit correctly interpret the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama-Coushatta Indian Tribes of Texas Restoration Act to subject the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo to all Texas gaming regulations?
This case asks the Supreme Court to decide whether Texas can regulate bingo and other gaming activities on tribal lands. Petitioner Ysleta del Sur Pueblo argues that the Court's precedent of Cabazon Band should control for purposes of statutory interpretation. Under Cabazon Band, tribes cannot operate games that state law prohibits; however, tribes do not have to follow state regulations governing games that are not otherwise prohibited. Respondent Texas maintains that the Restoration Act controls this issue, and that the Act does not incorporate the Cabazon Band interpretation. Therefore, Texas asserts that all gaming activities on tribal lands are subject to Texas regulations. The outcome of this case is limited to two tribes in Texas but could have implications on their tribal sovereignty.
Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties
Whether the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama-Coushatta Indian Tribes of Texas Restoration Act provides the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo with sovereign authority to regulate non-prohibited gaming activities on their lands (including bingo), as set forth in the plain language of Section 107(b), the act’s legislative history and the Supreme Court’s holding in California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, or whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s decision affirming Ysleta del Sur Pueblo v. Texas (Ysleta I) correctly subjects the Pueblo to all Texas gaming regulations.
The Ysleta del Sur Pueblo (“the Pueblo” or “the Tribe”) are a federally recognized Indian nation in Texas, with its 100-acre reservation near El Paso, Texas. Brief for Petitioners, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo at 5. In the 1980s, the Pueblo sought to obtain federal trust status from the federal government.
Additional Resources
- Anthony Jackson, US Supreme Court to hear Ysleta del Sur Pueblo gambling case in fight against Texas, El Paso Times (Oct. 19, 2021).
- Hayden Sparks, U.S. Supreme Court Grants Appeal in Ysleta del Sur Pueblo’s Tribal Gambling Case, The Texan (Oct. 25, 2021).