The Tigua Native American tribe of West Texas operates a casino on its reservation near El Paso, but not for long. That's because Attorney General John Cornyn hit the jackpot in his war on illegal gambling when U.S. District Judge Garnett Eisele granted a permanent injunction against the casino - giving the Tigua's until Nov. 30 to halt all operations.
In essence, the Tiguas must obey an order from a visiting judge from the Eastern District of Arkansas requiring them to obey a Texas law they should be exempt from anyway.
The federal judge from Arkansas used as precedent the ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that prohibits tribes from conducting games not expressly authorized by Texas law.
So, we're left with a question: What's the definition of gambling?
A member of the Alabama-Coushatta tribe was right when he told an East Texas newspaper that Texas has bingo, a state lottery, horse racing and dog racing. John Cornyn and his gang are walking a fine line by condoning gambling at the tracks and blasting the use of anything resembling a slot machine.
In addition to those forms of state-sanctioned gaming, Texas has an ongoing struggle with "8-Liners" which are essentially slot machines. Cornyn has been less than successful in ridding East Texas and other areas of these machines so far. If Cornyn is intent on shutting down the Tigua operation, he should step up prosecutions of those who make and house these machines in Texas as well.
With the surging popularity of Internet gambling, taking arbitrary action against institutions that keep dollars within the state's borders while failing to stem the flow of money out of state seems misguided at best.
Cornyn first started his fight against the Tigua when, under the direction of then-Gov. George W. Bush, he received a $1.5 million grant in 1999 to combat illegal gambling in Texas over the course of three years. The fact that the Tigua Indians gave heavily to Cornyn's opponent in the last election, Jim Mattox, didn't curry them too much favor with Cornyn.
Instead of funding a costly war on what a few interested parties consider "gambling," maybe our state lawmakers should simplify their definition of "gambling." Texans could benefit from that in two ways. First, taxpayers could save some money enforcing an inconsistent law. Second, we'd keep Texas gamblers from crossing state lines and pouring Texan dollars into the economies of states like Louisiana, New Mexico and Nevada.
While the scourge of roulette wheels that have sprung up on the Speaking Rock reservation are no doubt a concern to many, Cornyn and Co. should spend more time and effort pursuing matters of more importance to the lives of all Texans. County prisons, particularly in Travis County, are not doing so well in meeting basic safety standards. In addition, the state's prison guards are still among the lowest paid employees in the state. Add to this the condition inside Texas prisons - highlighted by the state's ongoing battle with Judge William Wayne Justice - and there are a host of more pressing issues for our chief law officer to tackle should he want to improve the visible quality of life for Texans.
Without a successful appeal, the only way any Native American tribe or organization can make some money through gambling is to wager with the government. And we all know what happened the last time they took that bet.
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