Over the years, casino-owning tribes have spent millions in court, in the Legislature and at the ballot box trying unsuccessfully to force their only competitors out of California’s casino business.
A judge [Friday] blocked their latest effort.
Last year, tribes persuaded the California Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom to allow them to sue gambling halls called card rooms over the tribes’ claim that they have exclusive rights to offer Las Vegas-style gambling in the state.
Since the tribes are sovereign governments, they had lacked standing to sue the private businesses until Newsom signed Senate Bill 549, which gave the tribes one shot this year to resolve their dispute in Sacramento County Superior Court.
