A federal choose in Washington has dominated that the Division of the Inside (DOI) violated the due course of rights of the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians when it all of a sudden took again the tribe’s gaming eligibility for a proposed on line casino mission in Vallejo, California. Nonetheless, Choose Trevor McFadden made clear that Scotts Valley can maintain transferring ahead with the mission even because the DOI continues reevaluating it.
Each Scotts Valley and the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, one of many fundamental opponents of the mission, every referred to as the ruling a win for their very own facet.
“This victory is about greater than gaming. It’s about equity, tribal sovereignty, and the basic proper of our individuals to maneuver ahead in constructing a brighter future,” Scotts Valley Chairman Shawn Davis advised Lake County Information.
This story’s been up to date with Scotts Valley response, and what’s an uncommon factor in courts, each side are proud of final result right this moment. Scotts Valley is thrilled to get gaming eligibility again, nevertheless Yocha Dehe is proud of what choose stated and that DOI will look into difficulty. https://t.co/kNCS6X7UrM
— Thomas Gase (@TgaseVTH) October 31, 2025
On the opposite facet, in an announcement offered to ReadWrite, Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation Chairman Anthony Roberts stated: “At the moment’s courtroom determination accurately reaffirms the Division of the Inside’s determination to reevaluate this proposed on line casino, which might destroy irreparable cultural and ecological assets and has already been rejected three different instances by the Division.
“Because the Division said in its letter asserting its determination to rethink the mission, this course of will assess all info and proof – revealing what historical past already makes clear: Scotts Valley has no historic connection to this land.”
“For years we’ve got labored with our federal, state, and native companions to make clear the issues on this course of,” Chairman Roberts continued. “We’re grateful the Division can proceed doing the best factor by evaluating all proof. We’re assured this reconsideration course of will reveal the reality Scotts Valley has tried to cover from the very begin – their ancestral lands usually are not in Vallejo, and so they by no means have been.”
The Scotts Valley Band Vallejo on line casino mission plan
The ruling comes as tensions develop between the Scotts Valley Band and several other close by tribes. The tribes argue that the Vallejo property doesn’t qualify as restored lands underneath the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) and {that a} new on line casino would put their very own gaming operations in danger.
Scotts Valley is planning to construct a $700 million, 400,000-square-foot on line casino complicated. The proposal additionally consists of 24 properties and an administrative constructing on a 128-acre website close to I-80 and Freeway 37 in Vallejo.
San Pablo Metropolis Council vote 12/9/2024 to ship this letter to Metropolis of Vallejo demanding a full environmental evaluate of the proposed Scotts Valley On line casino Challenge:https://t.co/pX687KSB7w
Probably not in regards to the atmosphere.
The brand new on line casino would compete towards San Pablo Lytton On line casino. pic.twitter.com/s4xr8lPxxo— Kevin Dayton (@DaytonPubPolicy) December 7, 2024
Nonetheless, in an in depth 35-page memorandum opinion reviewed by ReadWrite, the US District Courtroom for the District of Columbia described the entire dispute as centered on “an company’s reversal.” For nearly ten years, the Scotts Valley Band had been pursuing a belief acquisition and gaming willpower for the Vallejo website.
In January 2025, within the closing days of former US President Joe Biden’s administration, the Division of Inside Secretary Doug Burgum accredited the belief acquisition and stated that “the Band could conduct gaming on the Vallejo Web site as soon as it’s acquired in belief.” The division executed the belief deed that very same day.
Lower than eleven weeks later, after substantial outreach from neighboring tribes together with the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and the Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation, the Inside modified its place. In a March 27 letter, the company knowledgeable Scotts Valley that “the Division [was] quickly rescinding the Gaming Eligibility Willpower for reconsideration” as a result of “the Secretary [was] involved that the Division didn’t take into account further proof submitted after the 2022 Remand.”
The DOI additionally warned the tribe that “neither the Tribe nor another entity or individual ought to depend on the Gaming Eligibility Willpower” whereas the company re-examined the case.
The choose stated that though the Inside Division’s option to take one other have a look at the problem wasn’t a closing company motion and couldn’t be reviewed underneath the Administrative Process Act, the non permanent rescission itself was closing and may very well be challenged. The courtroom rejected the tribe’s Administrative Process Act (APA) arguments, discovering that the Inside’s transfer match inside its inherent authority and that the report didn’t present “improper political affect.”
Inside accused of violating Scotts Valley tribe’s rights
However the courtroom additionally discovered that the Inside violated the Fifth Modification as a result of the tribe’s authentic gaming approval created a protected property curiosity. The choose wrote that the Band had “a legit declare of entitlement” to the January 10 gaming willpower and that the Inside had given “too little course of to rescind it.”
The Inside acknowledged that it didn’t give the tribe any advance discover earlier than pulling again its approval. Throughout that very same time, the company was holding a number of calls and conferences with neighboring tribes that opposed the mission. The courtroom stated the one-sentence clarification the Inside provided left the Band “decreased to guessing what proof can or ought to be submitted in response,” which wasn’t sufficient to fulfill fundamental due course of requirements.
The tribe stated it relied on the January approval when it signed contracts and dedicated virtually two million {dollars} to the mission. The courtroom identified that these reliance claims weren’t sufficient to win underneath the APA, but it surely additionally made clear that the due course of violation didn’t rely on how a lot the tribe had spent.
The neighboring tribes, together with Yocha Dehe, United Auburn, and Lytton Rancheria, have argued in separate fits that the DOI dedicated “authorized error” in approving the Vallejo website in January.
In a single e-mail referenced within the opinion, a consultant for Yocha Dehe urged the division that “if an excessive amount of time passes, or if Scotts Valley begins breaking floor (or in any other case depends on the choice), there’s an actual danger Inside won’t achieve success and or may very well be tied up in courtroom.” The consultant added that the tribes “had a authorized problem all teed up.”
These fits stay pending.
The choose wrapped up his opinion by ruling that the Inside Division would get abstract judgment on the APA claims, whereas Scotts Valley would win on its due course of declare. This implies the Inside can proceed its reconsideration course of, but it surely has to present the tribe correct procedural protections earlier than it will probably undo the tribe’s gaming eligibility.
Scotts Valley has stated the Vallejo on line casino mission is important for rebuilding the tribe’s authorities and financial system, pointing to a marketing strategy that projected annual revenues of $243.5 million. As a result of Inside’s guidelines require tribes to hunt restored lands determinations inside 25 years of federal recognition, the courtroom famous that “that is the Band’s final probability.”
UPDATE: Assertion from Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation added on October 31, 2025.
Featured picture: Canva
