Graton casino foes ask state Supreme Court to hear lawsuit

A group of casino opponents that lost a legal challenge against the Graton Resort and Casino on Wednesday filed a petition asking the state Supreme Court to hear the case.

The Stop the Casino 101 Coalition has argued that California never ceded sovereignty over 254 acres of land outside Rohnert Park that the federal government took into trust for the Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria. The tribe last year opened a $800 million casino on the land, which was purchased in 2005 for the tribe by Station Casinos, the Las Vegas company that manages the Graton Casino.

A three-judge panel of the First District Court of Appeal last month ruled against the casino opponents, finding “numerous fallacies” in their arguments. The appeal court ruled that the state implictly ceded jurisdiction over the casino site when it approved a compact with the tribe, which was signed by the governor and ratified by the Legislature.

Petaluma City Councilman Mike Healy, an attorney for the group, said in a statement that the case raises the issue of so-called reservation shopping, where out-of-state gambling companies purchase land that the federal government then takes into trust for Indian tribes.

“Newly purchased lands are a world apart from historic reservations,” Healy said in a statement. “On historic reservations, the state never exercised jurisdiction, but on newly purchased lands such as the Graton Casino site, the state has been governing the property for 160 years. Jurisdiction cannot just be taken from the state. It does not change unless the state formally cedes it to another sovereign. That did not happen here.”

Casino opponents made a similar argument in a successful campaign this month to defeat Prop. 48, which invalidated a gaming compact between the state and the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians. That tribe is seeking to build a casino in the Central Valley on land it purchased away from its traditional reservation.

A spokeswoman for Station Casinos did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday afternoon. Greg Sarris, chairman of the Graton tribe, did not return a message left with his office.

You can reach Staff Writer Matt Brown at 521-5206 or matt.brown@pressdemocrat.com. ?On Twitter @MattBrownPD.