Card rooms challenge Indian gaming measure

LOS ANGELES- Four Northern California card clubs plan to challenge a state amendment allowing expansion of Indian casinos, saying the arrangement violates the U.S. Constitution because it offers preferential treatment based on ethnicity.

The clubs have asked Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to the reject state-tribal pacts, which likely would be the first step toward a lawsuit to have Proposition 1A declared invalid, the Los Angeles Times reported today.

Operators of the card rooms fear the Indians will force them out of business by offering services they can't legally compete against.

Proposition 1A was approved by voters in March, paving the way for ratification of compacts signed by Gov. Gray Davis and 58 California tribes last year granting exclusive right to operate Nevada-style slot machines and banked card games.

However, attorney James Hamilton, representing the card clubs and two Sacramento-area charities, claimed in a letter to Babbitt that the arrangement violates the 14th Amendment guaranteeing equal protection under the law.

Hamilton wrote that the U.S. Supreme Court has held that ''all laws that classify citizens on the basis of race ... are constitutionally suspect and must be strictly scrutinized.''

Tribal Chairman Richard Milanovich of the Agua Caliente Indians in Palm Springs dismissed claims that Indians illegally receive preferential treatment. He said tribes are recognized as sovereign governmental bodies, not racial groups.

Rex Hackler, a spokesman for Babbitt's Bureau of Indian Affairs, echoed those claims, saying he has heard arguments similar to the card clubs' several times since Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988.

''But the race theory doesn't work,'' he said.

Unless the Interior Department takes action on the compacts by May 6, the agreements will become law.

Hamilton's clients include Artichoke Joe's in San Bruno, California Grand Casino in Pacheco, Lucky Chances in Colma and the Oaks in Emeryville, as well as two charities - the Fairfield Youth Foundation and Sacramento Consolidated Charities.

Some card clubs, including the Commerce Club in Los Angeles County, have pledged not to oppose implementation of Proposition 1A.

''We, frankly, would like to coexist with the Indian casinos, rather than become embroiled in litigation,'' said Commerce Club lobbyist Rodney Blonien.