Web Editor's Note: PACT contacted the Register Guard and explained that we would prefer to provide the entire article when we reprint them on our web site, in order to ensure that a full and unbiased representation of the contents of the article is presented to our visitors. However, PACT was informed that only excerpts of the Register Guard articles were allowed to be reprinted on PACT web pages. So, PACT has reluctantly edited the following article to provide our visitors with what we consider the most relevant information. The full version of the article can be obtained from the Register Guard newspaper in Eugene, Oregon.

(Excerpt)
State High Court Rejects Petition of Casino Foes

Opponents say they remain confident in their case as it heads back to Lane County

The Oregon Supreme Court threw out a lawsuit filed against the Three Rivers Casino on Tuesday, sending disappointed casino opponents back to Lane County Circuit Court.

Attorneys for People Against a Casino Town had hoped to bypass the lower courts by filing a writ of mandamus in the state's highest court, arguing that the case surely would end up there anyway.

The court's decision doesn't reflect the case's merits, he [PACT's attorney Brad Litchfield] said.  It simply means the justices felt attorneys should begin with the county court.  "Of course we're disappointed," he said.  "But the Supreme Court didn't say, 'You folks lose.'  They said: 'We're not choosing to exercise our option to review it at this level.'"

The petition argued that the governor shouldn't have signed a gaming compact with the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians because the state constitution expressly prohibits the Legislature from allowing casinos. 

Litchfield said Tuesday's ruling won't change attorneys' approach, and that they'll likely file the same assertions in a lawsuit in circuit court.  "This is the first volley, really," he said.

(See PACT lawsuit)

• PACT Lawsuit