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Doe v. Pueblo6/28/2005
This case requires us to decide whether a New Mexico state court has subject matter jurisdiction of a personal injury suit brought against Santa Clara Pueblo as a result of events occurring at a casino owned and operated by Santa Clara Pueblo on its land. The district court denied the Pueblo's motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Upon consideration of the effect of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), 25 U.S.C. §§ 2701 to 2721 (1988, as amended through 1997), we affirm.
BACKGROUND
Facts and Proceedings
Jane Doe, a fourteen-year-old girl, by and through her parents and next friend, J.H. (jointly referred to as Plaintiff), sued the Santa Clara Pueblo, a federally recognized Indian tribe, and Santa Clara Development Corporation, a corporation wholly owned by the Pueblo that operates the Big Rock Casino Bowl (the Casino) on tribal land within the Santa Clara grant. We refer to Santa Clara Pueblo and the Santa Clara Development Corporation together as "Santa Clara."
Plaintiff alleges that she was visiting the Casino with her mother and grandmother; that she was kidnapped in the Casino parking lot by three males; that she was taken to a car parked in the Casino parking lot and driven away; that she was then repeatedly assaulted, battered, and raped by her abductors; and that they then dumped her near her home in Española, New Mexico. Plaintiff alleges Santa Clara is liable because the Casino failed to provide adequate security and lighting in the parking lot, and failed to aid in locating Jane Doe when it was apparent she was missing from the premises, all of which proximately caused damages. The district court denied Santa Clara's motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, but certified its decision for an interlocutory appeal, and we granted Santa Clara's application for an interlocutory appeal. An order denying a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction involves a question of law which we review de novo. Gallegos v. Pueblo of Tesuque, 2002-NMSC- 012, 6, 132 N.M. 207, 46 P.3d 668.
The district court denied Santa Clara's motion to dismiss based on its determination that, pursuant to a valid tribal-state compact, the IGRA permits state courts to assume subject matter jurisdiction over personal injury suits arising on the premises of a tribal gaming facility located on tribal land. On appeal, Santa Clara argues that the district court improperly denied its motion to dismiss because, absent a grant of jurisdiction from the United States Congress, state courts are powerless to hear cases that arise on tribal land. Santa Clara further contends that the IGRA does not constitute such a grant of jurisdiction. Additionally, Santa Clara argues that the IGRA does not allow a state and a tribe to enter into a compact that shifts jurisdiction over personal injury claims to state courts. Plaintiff concedes that state court jurisdiction over her claim must derive from the IGRA, but she contends that the New Mexico state district court has subject matter jurisdiction of her claim because a tribal-state compact validly shifts jurisdiction from tribal court to state court.
Pertinent Provisions of Law and Compact
The IGRA is "a comprehensive regulatory framework for gaming activities on Indian lands which . . . established the framework under which Indian tribes and states could negotiate compacts permitting [high-stakes] gaming on Indian reservations located within state territory." Gallegos, 2002-NMSC-012, 9 (internal quotation marks, footnote, and citation omitted). The IGRA divides tribal gaming into three categories. Social and traditional games comprise the firs
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