The Supreme Court today denied the original writ petition in Hollywood Park Casino Company v. Weber, which sought to keep off the November ballot an initiative titled “California Sports Wagering Regulation and Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act.” The petition said the initiative, scheduled to qualify for the ballot in several months, violates the state constitution’s single-subject rule in article II, section 8, subdivision (d).
The alleged violation is that, in addition to allowing sports betting, the initiative, among other things, would give American Indian tribes standing to seek civil penalties and injunctive relief for various gambling violations. That provision would apparently overturn the recent Court of Appeal opinion in Rincon Band of Luiseno Mission Indians v. Flynt (2021) 70 Cal.App.5th 1059. The Supreme Court denied review in that case last week, with Justice Goodwin Liu recording a vote to grant.
The initiative’s proponents — including California Indian Gaming Tribes — filed a preliminary opposition arguing that the court should not “become immersed in a political fight between various interest groups seeking to expand gaming in California.” The opposition reports “there are three other initiatives that may qualify for the November 2022 ballot, including a measure financially supported by Petitioners that would expand gambling in a manner very similar to the Initiative at issue in this Petition, but with gaming expansion and enforcement provisions more favorable to Cardrooms (and therefore Petitioners).”