No Surprise from Florida

Earlier this month, the Florida Supreme Court held that the Class III compact negotiated between Gov. Crist and the Seminoles violated state law. As Kathryn has detailed in her 2007 Marquette Law Review article, state constitutional challenges to gaming compacts are not unusual, often arising when the state legislature (or some state legislators) are unhappy with the compact negotiated by the governor. The Florida case is similar to cases in Wisconsin, New York, and Michigan. In Florida, the state legislature sued Gov. Crist, arguing that the compact was invalid without legislative approval. As is typical in these cases, the Seminoles were not party to the suit (Kathryn's article discusses how and why this is problematic). And as is also typical in these cases, the court's decision turns entirely on state law. (Ditto.)

The court concluded that because the compact authorized banked card games, which are illegal in Florida, the governor exceeded his constitutional authority: "The Governor has no authority to change or amend state law. Such power falls exclusively to the Legislature. Therefore, we hold that the Governor lacked authority to bind the State to a compact that violates Florida law as this compact does."

The court's decision is available through the Florida Supreme Court web site. (By the way, Kathryn's Marquette Law Review article is cited by the Florida Supreme Court in its decision.)
http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/index.shtml

Next up: The Fallout from the Florida Decision