On July 28th, 2008, Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio wants the Florida state Supreme Court to dismiss the Seminole Tribe's plea for a new court hearing regarding the issue of their gambling compact with the state, saying that it is the right time to start thinking ideas on how to stop the blackjack games on the reservation land. The Florida state Supreme Court decided to invalidate the contract between Governor Charlie Crist and the Seminole Tribe on July 3rd, 2008.
The gaming compact between the tribe and Governor Crist was signed on November 17th, 2007 and allowed the tribe to offer card games like blackjack at the seven gaming facilities of the Seminole Tribe. The court has decided that Governor Crist has no power to negotiate on his own on behalf of the state and he should have asked the opinion of the legislature. According to the motion filed by Speaker Rubio, the Seminole Tribe continues to offer the games despite promising to follow the order of the court.
The Seminole tribe says that their sovereign status means that they will only comply with whatever the decision of the federal government will be. Rubio motion's asked for an immediate decision on the matter so all parties involved can start the difficult task of following the decision of the court.
The court said that Crist's agreement with the Seminole Tribe-expanded gambling in exchange for at least $100 million a year to Florida-needed the approval of the legislature.
Sunday, August 10 , 2008
Kim Watson