Judge Meredith Sasso wrote that the West Flagler and Associates (WFA) chose the wrong “vehicle” to seek relief.
“Quowaranto is not, and has never been, an appropriate means to obtain a declaration regarding the substantive constitutionality of the legislation enacted. For that reason, we reject the petition because the relief sought by the petitioners is more than what the citation warrant provides.” 파친코
The Florida Supreme Court’s decision may not be the end for the state’s WFA. Lawmakers from both parties decided to bypass the filing to the district court and went straight to the Florida Supreme Court.
But Bob Jarvis, a constitutional studies professor at Nova Southeastern, told iGB that the WFA can now “follow the right path to bring a case to Leon County Circuit Court in Tallahashi.” Jarvis does not believe the WFA will win at any level.
The WFA is also pending a lawsuit in the U.S. Supreme Court, which sued the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) in 2021 saying it was out of bounds in approving the Florida-Seminol contract. The contract allows tribes to offer statewide mobile sports bets, which can be considered placed on tribal lands if all bets set in the state of Florida flow through servers on the Seminol land.
“This is a major victory for the people of Florida to rely on billions of dollars for years to come to support the critical state needs,” Seminole spokesperson Gary Bitner said in an email to iGB. “Floridians and visitors can enjoy statewide sports betting and expanded casino games now and into the future. And that means Florida’s Seminole tribe can be confident in the future.”